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13 June 2025
Issue: 8120 / Categories: Legal News , Human rights , Equality , Constitutional law
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NLJ this week: Sex, gender & parliamentary sovereignty

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Trans rights in the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court judgment is a complex and sensitive area. In this week’s NLJ, Dr Graham Zellick KC, emeritus professor of law and former vice-chancellor of the University of London, reflects on the Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland, the wider societal context behind the decision and the limited powers of the Gender Recognition Act 2004, under which gender recognition certificates are issued

Zellick critiques parts of the Supreme Court’s decision, asking why the court did not take account of a 2004 House of Lords precedent, as well as highlighting For Women Scotland’s impact on the Gender Recognition Act. He writes that the Act ‘has been left with little or no significance.

‘This provokes the question of whether the law remains ECHR-compliant. Amnesty International was allowed to intervene in For Women Scotland and made written submissions on the international human rights aspects of the case, but, inexplicably, they were entirely ignored.’ 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

NEWS
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
Britain’s new acknowledgement that Israel’s occupation is unlawful, and accompanying settlement-goods ban and sanctions, is significant but overdue, argue Danny Friedman KC and Victor Kattan in NLJ this week
New planning fee rises, wider trade union access rights and a service-by-email trap feature in Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way
Existing defamation law can respond to AI ‘hallucinations’, but allocating responsibility will prove harder where outputs reach users without human intervention
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