The Scottish Government will go to court in September as it seeks to challenge the UK Government's decision to block gender recognition reforms passed in Holyrood.

First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed in April that his government would mount a legal challenge to the use of Section 35 powers - which prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service confirmed a three-day hearing to consider the case would take place at the Court of Session in Edinburgh from September 19 to 21.

The case will be heard by judge Lady Haldane, who ruled in 2022 that the definition of sex was "not limited to biological or birth sex".

In what became known as "the Haldane decision", she judged that in the context of the 2010 Equality Act, sex referred to a person's sex recognised by law, and not simply their biological sex.

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The judicial review was sought after Scottish Secretary Alister Jack utilised never-before-used powers under Section 35 of the Scotland Act - the legislation which established the devolved Scottish Parliament - to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent.

The Bill, which had been passed by MSPs in December 2022, had set out to simplify and speed up the process transgender people go through to gain legal recognition in their preferred gender through a process of self-declaration.

The reforms also lower the age from 18 to 16 at which a person can apply for a gender recognition certificate, shorten the length of time required to live in the acquired gender and remove the need for a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

Mr Yousaf has previously insisted that if the Scottish Government had failed to challenge the use of Section 35 this would send a "signal that the UK Government can veto any legislation they disagree with at a whim".

The SNP leader added that legal action was the "only means of defending our Parliament's democracy from the Westminster veto".

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However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said before that the UK Government had taken "very careful and considered advice" on the issue.

The Conservative Government said the Holyrood bill encroached on equalities legislation, which includes provision to protect the rights of women to single sex spaces, such as hospital wards, changing rooms and toilets, in Scotland and across the UK, and is reserved to Westminster.

Throughout Mr Yousaf's campaign to be leader of the SNP and First Minister, he championed a court challenge to the UK government’s Section 35 order.

Kate Forbes, his main rival, supported a compromise and Ash Regan, the third candidate wanted to drop a court action completely.

The Scottish Greens made challenging the block essential to their party continuing with the co-operation deal with the SNP in Holyrood made under the Bute House Agreement.

While the gender reforms were passed in Holyrood with MSPs across the chamber supporting the legislation, research into public opinion has suggested voters do not agree with the changes.

A poll in December found that around two thirds of Scots opposed the central pillars of the legislation.