Sex reassignment law passed in Parliament

The Sejm adopted the Sex Reassignment Act. The key purpose of the new law is to speed up legal procedures governing sex reassignment. Interested persons will no longer need to bring a court action against their own parents, as sex reassignment cases will now be heard in a non-litigious mode by the Regional Court in Łódź.

Under the new Act, a motion for sex reassignment may be filed by any person with full capacity to perform acts in law. The motion must be accompanied by two opinions issued by medical experts that confirm the person’s gender identity is different from the sex recorded in the birth certificate. A final decision of the court will be the basis for receiving new identity documents, the change of name and issuing a new national identification number, PESEL.

“It’s a good law that introduces to our legislation much-needed and so far non-existent standards and procedures”, says Dr Dorota Pudzianowska, Coordinator of Article 32 Anti-discrimination Programme. “What we previously had in Polish law was an oddity. Having no proper legislative regulations, courts decided sex reassignment cases based on precedent and case law of the Supreme Court”, Dr Pudzianowska adds.

HFHR experts were among the authors of the draft law and took part in hearings of Sejm committees involved in the works on the draft.