A judge has ruled

Written by

Ophelia Benson

in

A Daniel come to judgment!

A judge has ruled that prison guidance which allows some transgender prisoners to be held in jails matching their gender identity, rather than their sex at birth, is unlawful.

Judge Lady Ross said sex segregation in prisons must be based on biological sex, based on a Supreme Court ruling on the definition of a woman in equality law in April last year.

Campaign group For Women Scotland challenged the Scottish government guidance through a judicial review, saying only those born biologically female should be held in the women’s estate.

Lawyers for the government had argued this would breach transgender prisoners’ human rights. The first minister said they will take time to consider the judgement.

Sneery voice: “Lawyers for the government had argued this would breach transgender prisoners’ human rights.” Well what about breaching female prisoners’ rights?! Why is it horrifying to [purportedly] breach transgender prisoners’ human rights but perfectly fine to violate women’s human rights? Why are so many people so happy to throw women to the wolves while the wolves get whatever they demand?

Lady Ross said the guidance was “in conflict with the requirement that prison accommodation be provided separately for men and women” and constituted “a mis-statement of the law”.

She said: “In all the circumstances, the prisons guidance is unlawful.”

But the Scottish government doesn’t care.

First Minister, John Swinney told BBC Scotland Lady Ross’s judgement was complex and the government will take time to consider its implications.

He said: “We will consider all of these details because there are complex issues that are involved, but at this early stage I acknowledge the outcome of the judgement from Lady Ross and the government will consider its findings.

“We will assess the implications the judgement has on carrying out policy in relation to the handling of prisoners.”

He seems to be saying his government will abide by the ruling if it feels like it but not if it doesn’t. He seems to be saying he gets to ignore the ruling.

Comments

2 responses to “A judge has ruled”

  1. Sumi Avatar
    Sumi

    The judgment is complex as it deals with standing, the powers of the devolved Scottish government, and the interplay of sections of the Equality Act and European human rights cases.

    But, the implications of the ruling on prison administration are not complex. Prisoners must be housed separately by sex. Get the men out of the women’s estate and the women (yes, there were a couple) out of the men’s.

  2. maddog1129 Avatar
    maddog1129

    We will assess the implications the judgement has on carrying out policy ….

    What is there to “assess”? In terms of “carrying out policy,” the ruling is crystal clear: prisoners are to be housed in sex-segregated facilities. It’s not an “implication,” it’s a directive. Stop putting men in women’s prisons.

    If some of the men prisoners need protection from other men prisoners, deal with that. Maybe a unit could be dedicated to male transgender prisoners.

    I also wonder if, once the salacious prospect of getting to transfer to the women’s prison is taken away, the men who claim to be transgender will desist from the claim.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More posts