In a landmark case, the courts yesterday ordered the Director of the Public Registry to allow a woman, who was formerly a man, to get married.

Mr Justice Gino Camilleri gave the decree in the Civil Court yesterday. The woman was born a man, but underwent surgery for gender reassignment. She then applied for her name to be changed on her birth certificate. The court duly ruled that the woman had assumed the feminine sex “irreversibly”. The court also ordered that the woman’s name be changed on her birth certificate, as well as her sex being changed to that of a woman.

The birth certificate was duly changed, and the woman applied to marry her fiancée with the Public Registry. However, the director refused to issue the wedding banns.

The court, presided over by Mr Justice Camilleri said that in accordance with Chapter 255, the wedding can go ahead as it is not between two people of the same sex. He therefore ordered the Public Registry to take the necessary action to rectify the situation. Dr David Camilleri appeared for the complainant.