Public access to virtual hearings

Please contact the relevant court directly at least one working day in advance to access a virtual hearing in the Supreme Courts, Sheriff Courts, Sheriff Appeal Court or All-Scotland Sheriff Personal Injury Court by sending an email with details of the:

• case reference number
• case name
• date of the hearing.

This information can be found on the Court Rolls.

Find out which court by the case reference.

Please be aware of the restrictions on virtual hearings as detailed below.

Restrictions on virtual hearings

Do not share access details for virtual hearings. Access is provided to you, the individual, and in accessing a case via the details provided, you are agreeing to the conditions set out below.

Anyone failing to obey or respect the authority of the Court may be subject to Contempt of Court proceedings. In particular, those accessing a hearing:

• must not record or store the proceedings
• must not broadcast the proceedings

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service retain the copyright of live audio recordings of Court proceedings. Although you are welcome to access the proceedings, the re-use, capture, re-editing or redistribution of the material in any form is not permitted. You should be aware that any such use could attract liability for breach of copyright or defamation, in addition to the possibility of contempt of court proceedings.

Please be aware that some court cases can deal with distressing details.

Use of social media during a virtual hearing

Members of the public must not, during the course of a virtual hearing, comment on the proceedings using any social media platform in relation to: jury trials; cases involving sexual offences; or cases where the participants cannot legally be identified.

Any social media comment in relation to the proceedings of other types of court case during the course of a hearing:

• must be fair and accurate
• must not be in Contempt of Court
• must not be prejudicial to the court case

Each individual accessing the case should be personally aware of the legal restrictions of use and for this reason the meeting code should not be shared.

Media access to virtual hearings

If you are a member of the press seeking access to a virtual case, please email a request at least one working day before the case is due to call: onlinehearingaccess@scotcourts.gov.uk

Alternatively, audio hearings can be accessed by dialling using the instructions below.

You will need to provide proof that you are a bona fide journalist.

Please be aware of the restrictions on virtual hearings as detailed above.

How to dial into a virtual hearing

Having read the information carefully and agreeing to the conditions and restrictions, please follow the instructions below to join the hearing:

1. call
   • within the UK: 020 7660 8149*
   • outside the UK find the global call number for your country*.
2. enter the case access code
3. when prompted, press # to join
4. once connected the line will remain silent until the hearing begins
5. the sound will activate automatically.

*Please note this call may incur a cost and you should check with your phone provider.

As participant arrangements require to be put in place, the hearing may not start immediately. Your patience is appreciated.

If there are no case access codes listed, there are no scheduled virtual hearings.

Upcoming hearings

Case name

The petition of For Women Scotland for Judicial Review

Case reference

P1183-25

Dates of hearings

• Tuesday 3 February 2026

• Wednesday 4 February 2026

• Thursday 5 February 2026

Times of hearings

10:00 to 13:00 then 14:00 until conclusion on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Join with meeting link or phone access

Meeting link

WebEx

Type of hearings

Outer House Substantive Hearing

Judge

Lady Ross

Agents and Counsel

For the Petitioners (For Women Scotland)

• Agents: Balfour + Manson LLP

• Counsel: Aidan O'Neill KC; Tony Convery

For the First and Second Respondents (The Scottish Ministers and the Lord Advocate, The Right Honourable Dorothy Bain KC)

• Agents: Scottish Government Legal Directorate

• Counsel: Gerry Moynihan KC; Lesley Irvine

For the First Intervener (The Scottish Human Rights Commission)

• Agents: Scottish Human Rights Commission

• Counsel: Kenny McBrearty KC; Rachel Breen

For the Second Intervener (The Equality and Human Rights Commission)

• Agents: Equality and Human Rights Commission

• Counsel: Janys Scott KC; David Anderson

Case description

Background

[1] The decision of the UK Supreme Court in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers (“FW2”), issued on 16 April 2025, addressed the question of the definition of the words “woman”, “man” and “sex” in the Equality Act 2010.  The Supreme Court held that these refer to biological sex, and do not include “certificated sex”, that being the sex acquired by a person with a gender recognition certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

The Current Case

[2] In February 2024, the Scottish Prison Service published its Policy for the Management of Transgender People in Custody: Operational Guidance.  That guidance allows, in some circumstances, for a transgender prisoner to be held in a prison for the opposite biological sex.  For Women Scotland challenge the guidance.

[3] The case involves consideration of:
-    the Equality Act 2010, in the light of the decision of the Supreme Court in FWS2
-    the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (Scotland) Rules 2011, in particular rule 126, which requires there to be provision of separate accommodation for male and female prisoners
-    the Human Rights Act 1998 and the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular Articles 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the European Convention on Human Rights
-    the Scotland Act 1998 and the extent of the Scottish Ministers’ powers

For Women Scotland’s Argument

[4] For Women Scotland argue that the guidance mis-states the law, and does not accurately reflect the Equality Act 2010, following the decision of the Supreme Court in FWS2 because it assumes that some male prisoners may serve their sentences within the women’s prison estate.  They argue that the Scottish Ministers require to provide women-only prison accommodation, separate and distinct from that provided for male prisoners. They argue that the defined protected characteristic of gender reassignment under the Equality Act 2010 cannot be relied upon to allow male prisoners to be accommodated in the women’s prison estate.  For Women Scotland refer to the requirement in the Equality Act 2010, at section 29, that a person exercising a public function must not do anything constituting discrimination, harassment or victimisation.

[5] For Women Scotland argue that the directions in the guidance are contrary to rule 126 in the 2011 Rules.  They also argue that, with the guidance, the Scottish Ministers are acting outside their powers, because equal opportunities are a reserved matter under the Scotland Act 1998.  For Women Scotland do not accept that there is a positive obligation, by reference to the Article 8 rights of transgender prisoners, to allow prisoners of one sex to be accommodated in prisons reserved for the opposite sex.  They also resist the Scottish Ministers’ arguments in relation to the interpretation of the Equality Act 2010.

The Scottish Ministers’ Argument

[6] The Scottish Ministers take issue with the way in which For Women Scotland challenge the guidance and argue that there must be a claim of unlawful sex discrimination or harassment, and that that cannot be assumed.  For that reason, they argue that a relevant case has not been established against them.

[7] In response to the arguments for For Women Scotland, the Scottish Ministers argue that a rule which would never permit a transgender person to be accommodated in a prison reserved for the opposite sex would violate the Convention rights of at least some prisoners, in particular under Articles 8 and 14 ECHR,  They argue that such a rule would mean that they would be acting in a way that is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

[8] The Scottish Ministers also argue that they are exercising a core public function and that they may do that, notwithstanding it gives rise to sex discrimination, where that is required by another statute.  The Scottish Ministers’ position is that rule 126 can apply in a way that permits transgender prisoners to be accommodated in a prison for the opposite biological sex.

[9] The Scottish Ministers put forward a further argument to the effect that the Equality Act 2010, and specifically paragraph 26 of Schedule 3, can be read in a way that allows services to be provided “primarily” rather than exclusively for persons of the same sex, where that is necessary to avoid a breach of the Convention rights of transgender persons of the opposite biological sex.  If the provision cannot be read in that way, the Scottish Ministers argue that there should be a declaration of incompatibility in terms of section 4(2) of the Human Rights Act 1998.

[10] The Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Equality and Human Rights Commission have been authorised by the court to provide both written and oral submissions. They act in the public interest and are known as “interveners”.

The Outer House will hear the substantive hearing on 3, 4 and 5 February 2026 at 10am.