Police Scotland orders policy review in wake of Supreme Court gender definition ruling

Police Scotland has said it will review its policies on transgender issues following a Supreme Court judgment on the legal definition of a woman.

In September, Police Scotland reversed a policy that allowed rapists to identify as female and a review was announced, to be provided to the Scottish Police Authority (SPA).

Police Scotland has issued a statement on the officer in question

Following an SPA meeting in February, Police Scotland confirmed it was reviewing its Transitioning at Work policy based on self-identifying “as part of our wider sex and gender review”.

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On Wednesday, the UK’s highest court ruled the terms “woman” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.

The Supreme Court judgment prompted British Transport Police (BTP) to introduce an “interim position” on searching trans people.

A British Transport Police officer

BTP said a day after the judgment that trans people held in custody will be strip searched by an officer in line with their birth sex.

This means trans women in custody will be searched by male officers, while officers who are trans women will no longer be able to search female detainees – although BTP stressed that someone can object and ask to be searched by another officer.

The public confirmation of a policy change came as the Equality and Human Rights Commission said Wednesday’s ruling means trans women cannot use single-sex female toilets or changing rooms or compete in women’s sports.

Susan Smith (left) and Marion Calder (right), co-directors of For Women Scotland, celebrate outside the Supreme Court in London after terms "woman" and "sex" in the Equality Act refer to a biological woman and biological sex, the Supreme Court has ruled. Photo: Lucy North/PA Wire

Police Scotland said that its review would consider the Supreme Court judgment “as well as revised national guidance”. However, it did not confirm whether an “interim position” would be introduced.

Assistant chief constable Catriona Paton said: “Our ongoing review is considering the terminology and recording practices we use to collect and record sex and gender data and recommend improvements.

“This important work will consider today’s Supreme Court judgment as well as revised national guidance.

“We are also reviewing our guidance, policies and procedures within our organisation, to ensure that they are aligned to our values, comply with equality, human rights and data protection laws and meet our operational requirements.

“We will continue to engage with a range of stakeholders, associations and legal experts throughout the course of the review.”