The Dutch government says it will amend a law that prevents transgender people from registering their new gender on official documents until they have had sex change surgery and been sterilised.

The announcement came Tuesday, the same day Human Rights Watch issued a report criticising the law.

Justice Ministry spokesman Wiebe Alkema says authorities have been working for months on scrapping the requirement for transgender people to undergo surgery and sterilization before registering their new gender.

Junior Justice and Security Minister Fred Teeven is to send the draft legislation to legal advisers on Wednesday before presenting it to the Cabinet.