Why a verdict on the Supreme Court's definition of a woman will take until next year

The UK Supreme Court is currently considering the issue after the campaign group For Women Scotland challenged Scottish Government guidance stating a trans woman could be classed as a woman if they have a gender recognition certificate.

On Tuesday, Aidan O’Neill KC set out For Women Scotland’s argument, and said “sex is an immutable fact” and said “certificated sex was a legal fiction”.

On Wednesday, Ruth Crawford KC will put forward the Scottish Government’s argument.

The government’s argument is likely to lean on the Gender Recognition Act 2004, which says a gender recognition certificate changes one’s sex “for all purposes”.

However it could be early March before a verdict is reached on this legal battle.

This is because judgements in the Supreme Court can take around 12 weeks to be made - and more time will be added on to take into account the Christmas and New Year holiday.

On its website, the Supreme Court states: “As a very broad indication, judgements tend to follow approximately 12 weeks (excluding vacation) after the conclusion of the appeal hearing.”

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The hearings finish today, which means it could be around 5 March before a verdict is reached.

Once the hearing finishes this afternoon, the justices (Lord Reed, Lord Hodge, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lady Rose and Lady Simler) will deliberate together about the arguments they have heard over the two days.

After this, each justice will separately write their own judgement.

For each judgement, a press summary will be drafted by the judicial assistants, who are trained lawyers who work for a year as researchers for the Supreme Court justices.

The lead justice will then summarise the case and the court’s decision, and a shortened version of all the summaries will be read aloud in the court.

This judgement will be broadcasted on national television and livestreamed on Sky News website.