issued by the Registrar of the Court
ECHR 048 (2022)
17.02.2022
Refusal to alter full birth certificate following gender reassignment was not a
violation
Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been:
no violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on
Human Rights, and
no violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination).
The case concerned applications by Y, a transgender man, to have reference to his gender assigned
at birth removed from his birth certificate, or to have a new birth certificate issued.
The Court found in particular that the applicant had been unable to demonstrate that he had
suffered any disadvantage as a result of the decisions of the domestic authorities. They had balanced
the interests at stake, acting within their discretion, when refusing to alter the full birth certificate.
Principal facts
The applicant, Y, is a Polish national who was born in 1969 and lives in the Île-de-France region.
Y underwent gender reassignment from female to male. In 1992 he obtained a court order in Poland
to amend his birth certificate to reflect this change. His daughter’s birth certificate in France
indicates him as the father.
In 2008 he applied to the Polish authorities to have the mention of the 1992 court decision removed
from the birth certificate. Following decisions by three administrative authorities, the Opole
Regional Administrative Court dismissed his application. That decision was upheld by the Supreme
Administrative Court following a cassation appeal.
In 2011 Y applied for a new birth certificate via the courts. He was unsuccessful at three levels of
jurisdiction, with the Supreme Court holding, following his cassation appeal, that it was not possible
to issue a new birth certificate following gender reassignment, and thus the changes would have to
be indicated as an annotation to the original birth certificate.
Complaints, procedure and composition of the Court
Relying on Articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and 14 (prohibition of
discrimination), the applicant complained that his birth certificate included reference to his gender
at birth, and that he was discriminated against vis-à-vis adopted children, who were issued new birth
certificates.
The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 18 November 2014.
1. Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, this Chamber judgment is not final. During the three-month period following its delivery,
any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five judges
considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final
judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day.
Once a judgment becomes final, it is transmitted to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for supervision of its execution.
Further information about the execution process can be found here: www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/execution.
