Credit: CJEU

The court was asked to rule on questions relating to a Bulgarian national who was registered as male at birth, who now lives in Italy and sought to update her Bulgarian birth certificate to reflect her identity as a woman.

In yesterday’s ruling, the court held that EU law precludes legislation of a member state which does not permit the amendment of the gender data in the civil status registers of one of its nationals who has exercised their right to move and reside freely in another member state.

The outcome in what is known as the Shipova case has been welcomed by LGBT+ rights campaigners.

Denitsa Lyubenova, lawyer at LGBTI organisation Desytvie, represented the applicant in the CJEU proceedings alongside Alexander Schuster.

“This case concerns the dignity, equality, and legal certainty of trans people in Bulgaria,” Ms Lyubenova said.

“As a result of today’s ruling, all pending cases in Bulgaria must be resumed without delay, and courts and authorities must issue judgements in accordance with EU law and the CJEU’s ruling in the Shipova case.

“At the same time, a serious legal gap remains.

“Bulgarian citizens who have not exercised their right to free movement are still left without an effective legal pathway to change their personal data. This highlights the urgent need for legislative reform to ensure effective protection of trans people living in Bulgaria.”

Marie-Hélène Ludwig, senior strategic litigation advisor at ILGA-Europe, added: “Today’s judgment is a huge step forward for the protection of trans persons’ fundamental rights under EU law, in a context where three member states are now completely banning legal gender recognition.

“The court said it clearly: a member state’s refusal to grant [legal gender recognition] and issue functioning identity documents hinders the exercise of the right to free movement and residence attached to EU citizenship.

“The European Commission now has a strong legal basis to swiftly act against states that do not comply with this judgment.”