Scottish government back in court over definition of ‘woman’

A campaign group has taken the Scottish government back to court over its definition of “woman” in legislation promoting gender balance on boards.

A judge ruled in February that ministers should not have “conflated” women and trans people in the bill, as they have separate protections in law.

But the For Women Scotland group is not happy with how the government revised the bill following the ruling.

Lady Haldane will preside over two days of arguments at the Court of Session.

The Scottish government wants the case dismissed, arguing that its legislation is now in line with the terms of the 2004 Gender Recognition Act.

The case centres on the Gender Representation on Public Boards Act, which was passed by MSPs in 2018.

The legislation, which aims to ensure gender balance on public boards, originally stated that it included people who were living as a woman and who either had gone through or intended to go through the gender recognition process.

For Women Scotland contended that ministers had broken with the separate definitions of women and trans women laid out in the 2010 Equality Act – and had thus acted beyond their powers.

Read here