R (Elan-Cane) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

The case of R (Elan-Cane) v Secretary of State for the Home Department before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom considered whether the European Convention on Human Rights, either taken in isolation or read together with article 14, imposed an obligation on the state, when issuing passports, to respect the private lives of individuals who identify as non-gendered by including a non-gendered ("X") marker for the passport-holder's gender. The court also considered whether such an obligation was imposed on the Home Secretary by the Human Rights Act 1998. The court answered both questions in the negative. The court held that while the appellant's identification as non-gendered was an aspect of private life within the meaning of article 8, the considerations relating to the appellant's interest in being issued with an "X" passport were outweighed by the considerations relating to the public interest put forward by the Secretary of State. The court also held that the dicta in Re G do not provide a basis for allowing the present appeal and should be disapproved. In these circumstances, the appeal should be dismissed.