Wed, 2011-07-06 11:16 by Alexander Schuster

Rome, 6 July 2011 – The Court of first instance of Rome decided to reaffirm a, isolated precedent of 1997 and stated that sterilisation is not to be understood as a mandatory requirement for gender reassignment. This decision will hopefully change the prevailing interpretation of the law in the country.

The Tribunal of Rome decided on 11 March 2011 [judgement on EJ database] to grant gender reassignment in a case where the applicant eventually decided not to undergo gender reassignment surgery and referred to a previous decision of 1997 by the same court.

A judicial procedure for reassignment is required by the 1982 law. The law is widely constructed as requiring sterilisation. The decision is of the greatest importance as it comes from a court that is perhaps the one dealing with the highest number of applications for gender reassignment in Italy. Rome hosts the SAIFIP, a medical centre specialized in gender identity issues and a leading institution in Italy.

The decision is definitive and cannot be appealed.

The Equal Jus Project has selected this leading decision for translation into English. It will be published shortly online.

This article was taken from www.equal-jus.eu