Transsexuals and retirement age : Case C-423/04

It's a wonder sometimes just how progressive the European Court of Justice can be.

In Case C-423/04 Richards v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions the Court held that a national law (as in force prior to the adoption in the United Kingdom of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 which has solved the problem) that precluded a person who had undergone a sex change operation to become a woman from retiring at the of 60, the statutory age for women in Britain, unfairly discriminated against that person.

In particular, the Court held that a national rule that precluded a woman from retiring at 60 in those circumstances was contrary to Article 4 (1) of Council Directive 79/7/EEC of December 19th, 1978 on the progressive implementation of the principle of equal treatment for men and women in matters of social security.