For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers (2025): A Defining Case on Legal Sex

The case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers reached the UK Supreme Court in 2025 and centered around the legal definition of “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 and its application within Scottish legislation. The dispute arose from the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018, introduced to improve the representation of women on public boards in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s guidance for implementing the 2018 Act stated that individuals with a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC), who had changed their legal gender to female, were to be included in the definition of “woman.”

For Women Scotland (FWS), a campaign group, challenged the guidance, arguing that the statutory definition of “woman” under the Equality Act refers to biological sex, not acquired gender. They contended that including males with GRCs within the category of “woman” was unlawful and exceeded the devolved powers of the Scottish Ministers.

The UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of For Women Scotland. It held that the Scottish Government’s guidance was inconsistent with the definition of "woman" in the Equality Act 2010. The Court reaffirmed that "sex" as used in the Act refers to biological sex, and that devolved legislation cannot modify or expand protected characteristics established in UK-wide law.

This landmark ruling clarifies that the protected characteristic of sex under the Equality Act cannot be altered by devolved administrations for their statutory schemes. It reasserts the legal boundary between devolved legislative competence and the UK Parliament’s authority over equality law.

Read the full Judgement here: FWS vs Scottish government