Overview
- The Court of Justice of the European Union held that national rules refusing to amend gender data for citizens who exercised free movement rights conflict with EU law.
- The case involved a Bulgarian woman known as “Shipova,” who moved to Italy and spent years seeking changes to her Bulgarian documents after courts in Bulgaria rejected her requests.
- The judges said mismatched identity papers create considerable obstacles during travel and in daily life, undermining EU citizenship rights and the right to respect for private life.
- The ruling returns to Bulgaria’s courts for application, with national judges required to set aside conflicting interpretations such as the Bulgarian Supreme Court’s 2023 restriction on legal gender recognition.
- The decision applies across the EU and is expected to affect countries with restrictive practices, with advocacy groups including ILGA-Europe and TGEU praising the outcome.