The lack of legislation on legal gender recognition and related name change for foreigners permanently residing in the country is unconstitutional – ruled the Hungarian Constitutional Court. The petitioner, an Iranian trans man was represented by the legal aid service of Háttér Society.
The decision of the Constitutional Court arose in the context of a complaint by an Iranian refugee. The Iranian trans man arrived to Hungary in the summer of 2015, and asked for asylum. The Hungarian authorities found that he had been persecuted in his home country due to being transgender, and thus recognized him as a refugee. His documents, however, still referred to him as female, so he requested legal gender recognition according to the regular Hungarian procedure. The authorities rejected his request on the ground that Hungary does not have jurisdiction in his case, and he should submit his request in Iran, the country where he had been persecuted.
With the help of the legal aid service of Háttér Society, he requested judicial review of the authority's decision, but the court rejected to make law in a situation where no law is applicable. The case ended up at the Constitutional Court as a constitutional complaint.
In its decision published on June 21, 2018 the Constitutional Court rejected the constitutional complaint, on the ground that such procedure cannot address missing legislation, on the other hand - proceeding ex officio - they found that is was an unconstitutional omission that the law does not provide for legal gender recognition and related name change for trans people legally residing in Hungary permanently.
The unanimous decision of the Constitutional Court, however, is not only relevant for trans foreigners. The decision confirms that legal gender recognition and related name change is a fundamental right of trans persons deriving from the principle of human dignity. The decision also emphasizes that medical interventions are not a prerequisite for legal gender recognition. The Constitutional Court gave a deadline of December 31, 2018 for the legislator to adopt a new legislation. Read more via Háttér