Today we comment on a case that has caught our attention and that represents a small turning point in the full recognition of the rights of transgender people.
It is a judgment issued by the Provincial Court of La Coruña, which recognizes the right of trans people to request the rectification of the operative part of the final court judgments that include their former name and reference to their former sexual identity when issuing the testimony of the sentence.
The issue was aired following the appeal of a mother who demanded the rectification of the operative part of a court sentence issued seven years ago, when she was identified with a different sex. She wanted the judgment to recognize her right to enjoy custody of her daughter as “mother”, and not as “father”, and to change the wording so that the decision would contain her real name.
The resolution, which you can read here, sets a precedent on the right of transsexual persons to demand the issuance of testimonies of final and firm legal documents, even years after their issuance.
This avoids unwanted infringements of privacy when presenting these documents for administrative procedures.
A big step forward for transgender rights
In the case we are commenting on, the plaintiff, mother of a daughter, requested in 2018 the rectification of a 2012 judgment on shared custody and alimony so that they would stop referring to her with her old name and with the status of “father” instead of “mother”.
The 2018 court judgment resolved the mother’s request by granting her the name change as recorded in the Civil Registry.
The court did not allow an adapted judgment testimony of the original judgment with adapted ruling to be issued, but instead issued a new judgment replicating the content of the 2012 judgment, changing the name, but not replacing the term “father” with “mother”. This caused problems, since by using the testimony of the judgment’s ruling for any administrative procedure revealed his sexual identity transition by accompanying the term “father” with a feminine name.
Adaptation of the sentence on shared custody
As reported by the website Noticias Jurídicas, the judgment of the Provincial Court of La Coruña does not modify the content of final judgments (this is prohibited by the Civil Procedure Law, LEC).
What it does is to leave without effect the 2018 judgment as improper, allowing the adaptation of the judgment of the original one when testimony of the same is requested.
Thus, the Audiencia recognizes the claimant’s right to request testimony of the operative part of the final judgment by modifying the wording of the judgment, eliminating “any reference to her former sexual identity and name.” In this case, it explains, allowing this modification (only when requesting testimony of the operative part) preserves the privacy and dignity of the appellant.
In this way, the mother will be able to prove that she is the parent, custodian and co-parent of her daughter in a document that correctly identifies her sexual identity and her name, without giving rise to any other unnecessary disclosure that would violate her privacy.
Specifically, the resolution states: “Third parties in this way do not have to know either the legal basis of the judgment of instance in which the child with two mothers will be recorded, being sufficient in this regard the accreditation of the appellant’s status as custodial parent and co-holder of parental authority over the minor, through a partial testimony of its dispositive part under her current identity, derived from her change of sex.
In this way we combine the rights at stake respecting the procedural rules”. If you need a family lawyer in Barcelona, contact us and we will guide you on the best way to protect your rights.
