Litigation Degree: Second
Case No: 1123/2015
Issuing Court: Court of Appeals 
Judgement: Favourable, the request for legal gender recognition from female to male was granted
Judgement Date: 03/09/2015

Summary:

The Lebanese Court of Appeals has granted the appeal filed against the decision to deny the modification of personal data in the official documents in order to reflect the plaintiff’s gender affirmation from female to male. In its ruling, the Court based its decision on the imperative of aligning the plaintiff’s physical appearance with the information contained in the documents. Moreover, the Court relied on the individual’s right to privacy to be safeguarded by international instruments and precedent cases analogous to the present matter.

Facts:

Plaintiff X lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal, contesting the ruling of the single judge, dated 1/12/2014, who denied the plaintiff’s request to amend their personal information in official documents to reflect their gender transition from female to male (which had been changed following the plaintiff’s completion of surgical and hormonal interventions). Nonetheless, the single judge dismissed the appeal, citing that the plaintiff had made the correction voluntarily, without medical justification. Subsequently, the applicant escalated the matter by appealing to the Court of Appeal.

Judgement:

The Court of Appeal has granted the appeal in both form and content based on a discrepancy between the actual physical situation of the plaintiff and his information recorded in the official documents. The State has an obligation to rectify this discrepancy due to medical necessity, specifically the plaintiff’s gender identity disorder, which has been present since childhood. As a result, the plaintiff is entitled to receive the appropriate treatment for their condition. The correction of the documents to reflect reality is supported by Article 21 of Decree No. 8837/1932, which requires personal data to accurately represent the physical reality of the individual. Furthermore, the Court’s decision is also grounded on the protection of the right to privacy as guaranteed by Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Additionally, the Court referred to the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights in the cases of Gordian v. The United Kingdom on 11/7/2002 and B. v. France on 25/3/1992. These cases acknowledged a violation of the right to privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, specifically in relation to the refusal to correct personal data in official documents.