Consultation: For Women Scotland and its implications in NI
Opens 27 June 2025
Closes 19 September 2025
Send your response to scjresponses@equalityni.org
About the consultation
As part of our roadmap for addressing legal uncertainties in Northern Ireland following the For Women Scotland Supreme Court judgment, the Equality Commission is seeking your views.
The aim is to help us shape the legal questions that will ultimately be put to the Courts in Northern Ireland, and culminate in more definitive guidance to employers, service providers and public authorities when it comes to matters such as the meaning of “sex” and how to protect and balance the rights of girls, women and transgender people.
The consultation responses will also allow the Commission to ensure that it has provided meaningful information for employers, service providers and public authorities, both on an interim basis and in the future.
This consultation is focused on legal interpretation, not on personal views or policy decisions. We are not, at this stage, proposing legislative change in response to the legal uncertainties following the judgment in FWS.
To respond fully to this consultation, we encourage you to download and read the Commission’s legal paper, which sets out the background, legal uncertainties and proposed approach in detail.
Consultation questions
We invite your views on the following:
- In Section A and Section B of our legal paper, has the Commission identified what you consider to be the principal legal uncertainties and issues arising in Northern Ireland from the FWS judgment?
- If not, what other legal issues should the Commission be considering?
- In relation to the implications of the FWS judgment, on what issues would you particularly wish to see final guidance from the Commission?
- Do you consider that the interim information from the Commission for addressing immediate issues may be problematic/useful for employers and/or service providers and/or your organisation and, if so, in what respects (Annex 2 of our legal paper)?
- Do you consider that other useful interim suggestions might be made by the Commission which are not dependent on resolving the legal uncertainties?
- Do you consider the Commission has identified all allied legislation (Annex 3 of our legal paper)?
How to respond
Please send your responses by email to scjresponses@equalityni.org
If you need these documents in any other format please ring 028 90 500 600 or email scjresponses@equalityni.org
The consultation is open from 27 June 2025 to 19 September 2025.
We encourage responses from
- Government departments
- Employers and service providers
- Public authorities
- Special interest groups
We consider it to be important for both those in favour and against particular positions on the legal issues that we have identified to make their voices heard.