ٹرانس جینڈر پرسنز( پروٹیکشن آف رائٹس) ایکٹ 2018 کا اسلامی و عالمی قانون کےتناظر میں تحقیقی جائزہ

Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights): A Research Study of an Act 2018 in the Context of Islamic and International Law

Abstract

This article presents a legal critical analysis of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2018, enacted in Pakistan, evaluating its provisions in the light of Islamic jurisprudence, the Constitution of Pakistan, and international legal frameworks. The study employs a doctrinal research methodology to investigate how Pakistani statutes align with or diverge from analogous legislation in India, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Notably, the Indian Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019, mandates a formal process involving a District Magistrate and a medical certificate for gender recognition, which is not stipulated in Pakistani law. Additionally, while Indian, U.S., and UK laws explicitly safeguard the transgender individual’s right to cohabit with their family, this fundamental protection is conspicuously absent in the Pakistani Act. The United Kingdom’s requirement for medical evidence of gender dysphoria as a prerequisite for a Gender Recognition Certificate is also not mirrored in Pakistani legislation. The analysis reveals that while the 2018 Act makes significant strides in recognizing certain civil rights of transgender individuals, it suffers from critical legal and ethical lacunae, particularly in relation to familial rights and procedural safeguards. The study concludes that the Act requires substantial revision to harmonize its provisions with the ethical foundations of Islamic law (sharīʻah), the constitutional framework of Pakistan, and internationally recognized human rights standards.