Northern Ireland's prosecutors 'will respect the self-declared gender identity of criminal defendants'

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Northern Irish prosecutors will refer to defendants as any gender they want, the PPS has confirmed to the News Letter.

On the surface of it, this opens up the possibility that prosecutors could refer to alleged rapists as women if they so desire.

It also indicates the PPS will accept people as belonging to new "non-binary" genders like "two spirit" and "pangender", and that they would be willing to use the new accompanying pronouns like "ze/zir" instead of "she/her".

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The News Letter had enquired about the PPS' policy towards defendants who describe themselves as transgender after a recent case in Belfast's High Court.

A pro-transgender flag (the pink, white and blue chevrons represent transgenderism) - image: GettyA pro-transgender flag (the pink, white and blue chevrons represent transgenderism) - image: Getty
A pro-transgender flag (the pink, white and blue chevrons represent transgenderism) - image: Getty

In that case, a defendant was facing a charge of threatening to stab somebody.

Described as a transgender woman – a term usually used for someone who was born male but now describes themselves as female - the defendant had made an application to be kept in a woman's prison instead of a men's one.

During proceedings, prosecutors referred to that defendant as "she".

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Asked if it has a policy on this matter, the PPS told the News Letter: "The defendant in this case is currently before the court on a police holding charge and has not yet been the subject of a file submitted to the PPS for consideration.

"Prosecuting counsel who handled the recent bail application linked to this police charge was, as is normal procedure, appropriately guided by police information for this hearing.

"The PPS respects the right of any individual, irrespective of their status as defendant, victim or witness, to be referred to by their stated gender and to use their preferred pronoun in the course of proceedings."

The News Letter sought clarity from the PPS on whether this does indeed mean that rape suspects can be called "she", and that it agrees to use new pronouns like "ze/zir" – but the press office was closed for the holidays.

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In the end, the recent High Court case concluded with the defendant being granted the right to be placed in a women's jail (though they were instead allowed out on bail).

The court was told that this outcome was down to there being "no policy in place for transgender prisoners" from the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Asked about the absence of a policy, the DoJ told the News Letter that it did have "guidance" on the matter – namely, that they will deal with people who say they are transgender on a case-by-case basis.

It sent a statement from the NI Prison Service which said: “The NI Prison Service introduced guidance on the care and management of transgender prisoners in August 2022.

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"This followed a review of current arrangements and was developed after consultation with the Equality Commission and the South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust.

"When a person who is transgender is committed to custody by the courts, the NI Prison Service will consider their specific needs on a case-by-case basis following committal to an establishment as directed by the court.

"A person-centred and risk-based approach is taken on decisions around accommodation and care, informed by advice from colleagues in The South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust which is responsible for the delivery of healthcare services to people in prison.

"The Prison Service is at all times committed to ensuring that people in prison are held safely and securely and treated with dignity and respect.

“The Prison Service does not comment on individual cases.”

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