The CJEU judgment in Shipova and its Contribution to the Protection of Trans Rights under EU Law

This case note examines the CJEU’s judgment in Shipova and its implications for the protection of trans rights under EU law. The judgment constitutes an important development in the Court’s case-law by requiring Member States to issue to their nationals identity documents reflecting their lived gender identity. In legal systems where this is only possible following an amendment of civil status records, including the birth certificate, EU law effectively requires the availability of legal gender recognition procedures. The judgment also confirms the Court’s broad understanding of obstacles to free movement, extending protection to potential – albeit direct – restrictions on free movement, and further consolidates its increasingly de-medicalised approach towards trans rights under EU law.