Review of the Gender Recognition Act 2004: consultation analysis

Footnotes

1. The consultation noted that, under the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, section 44(2) it is an offence to knowingly and willfully make a statement which is false in a material particular in a statutory declaration. See http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/39/section/44.

2. Seventy duplicate responses were removed before analysis. A response was counted as a duplicate when both the name and email address matched. If the content of the duplicate responses were not identical, the response submitted last was used in the analysis.

3. An applicant may appeal a GRP decision to reject their application where they consider that the decision was wrong in how the GRP applied the law to the facts of their application: section 8(1) of the 2004 Act.

4. The consultation noted that, under the Criminal Law (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 1995, section 44(2) it is an offence to knowingly and wilfully make a statement which is false in a material particular in a statutory declaration. See http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1995/39/section/44.

5. Parental permission is required to join the armed forces if aged 16 or 17.

6. ‘Gillick competence’ refers to the House of Lord’s decision in the case of Gillick v West Norfolk and Wisbech Area Health Authority [1985] http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKHL/1985/7.html. The case related to the law in England and Wales on the legal capacity of a child to consent to their own medical treatment. In Scotland, the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 provides that ‘a person under the age of 16 years shall have legal capacity to consent on his own behalf to any surgical, medical or dental procedure or treatment where, in the opinion of a qualified medical practitioner attending him, he is capable of understanding the nature and possible consequences of the procedure or treatment’.

7. The Fraser guidelines refer to the guidelines set out by Lord Fraser in his judgment in the Gillick case, which apply specifically to contraceptive advice.

8. If the Gender Recognition Panel has issued an interim GRC to an applicant who is in a Scottish marriage whose spouse did not consent to their application, the applicant for gender recognition can then ask the sheriff court for a full GRC.

9. The Equality Act 2010 provides legal protections against discrimination. In broad terms, it provides that it is unlawful to discriminate against people because of one or more of their protected characteristics. Sections 11 and 12 define two of the protected characteristics, namely sex and sexual orientation respectively.

10. The main provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 commenced in May 2018.

11. When the Gender Recognition Panel notifies the Registrar General for Scotland that a GRC has been issued to a person whose birth (or adoption) was registered in Scotland, the Registrar General will make an entry in the Gender Recognition Register. This entry forms the basis of a new birth certificate (or extract from the Adopted Children Register) to be issued to the successful applicant.

12. The Gender Representation on Public Boards Bill was passed in the Scottish Parliament in January 2018. It requires public sector boards to work towards a target of having 50 per cent of non-executive members be women by 2022.

13. The STEM professions are Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

14. The Gender Identity Development Service is a specialised clinic for young people presenting with difficulties with their gender identity, commissioned by NHS England. In NHS Scotland, there is a multi-disciplinary team based at Sandyford, Glasgow who specialise in working with young people up to the age of 18.