Supreme Court ruling on woman definition ‘could mean UK is not meeting human rights obligations’, lawyer warns

The Supreme Court's decision to rule that woman and sex in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex” possibly showed that the UK is not meeting its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, a lawyer has warned.

Robin White was the first barrister to transition from male to female in practice at the employment and discrimination bar in 2011.

"I'm not particularly impressed by this ruling because I think it hasn't engaged with the difficulties that it will cause properly," she told The Independent.

The judges' decision was in response to a challenge brought by campaign group For Women Scotland (FWS), over the inclusion of transgender women with GRCs in the 50 per cent female quota mandated for public boards in Scotland.