Turkish Civil Code: Volume I, Section I, Chapter II: Personal Status Registry

Under Article 40 of the Turkish Civil Code, persons wanting to change their gender assignments should apply to the court for authorization. For the court to grant authorization, the following requirements must be met: (i) persons requesting such change must be over the age of 18 and should not be married and (ii) there must be an official health council report from an education and research hospital that they are transgender and gender reassignment is necessary for the preservation of their mental health. Upon verification via an official health council report that such person has undergone a gender reassignment surgery following the authorization of the court, the court will also decide that the necessary amendments be made in the civil registry to reflect the gender identity of the person who has undergone gender reassignment surgery in civil records. Until 2017, Article 40 also required that the person be unable to procreate, but the Constitutional Court found that requirement unconstitutional and struck it down in Decision No. 2017/165.

Topics

• Gender discrimination
• LGBTIQ

Geographical location

• Europe
• Turkey

Keywords

• constitutional rights
• trans rights
• transgender rights

Year

• 2001

External URL

• Turkish Civil Code: Volume I, Section I, Chapter II: Personal Status Registry

Type

• Legislation

Jurisdiction

• Turkey