TGEU is deeply disappointed with Czechia’s Constitutional Court decision of 31 March 2022 to reject the complaint of a trans person seeking legal gender recognition (LGR) without undergoing surgery.
In 2018, the European Committee of Social Rights found the Czech Republic to violate the right to health guaranteed in the European Social Charter by requiring sterilisation in LGR. The Czech Republic has not implemented the decision till this date.
Previously, in 2017, the European Court of Human Rights had found that sterilisation and any medical treatment with a high likelihood of causing sterility as a precondition for legal gender recognition is in breach of human rights.
Yet, despite these findings, Czechia has failed to remove the requirement for trans people to undergo sterilisation in order to have their gender legally recognised. It remains one of only a few countries in Europe left to have such a sterilisation requirement.