The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday conducted a hearing on a case made by an international athlete that the World Athletics’ eligibility requirements are discriminatory. The claimant has argued that these regulations force her to pursue medical treatment to qualify for competition, alleging multiple breaches of the European Convention on Human Rights.
This case arises from the grievances of Caster Semenya, the former South African Olympic champion. She claims that the ‘Eligibility Regulations for Female Classification (Athletes with Differences of Sex Development)‘ restrict her ability to participate in sports. Established in 2018 by World Athletics, these regulations target female athletes with differences in sex development (DSD) who have pronounced levels of testosterone or androgen-sensitivity. Semenya pointed out that these provisions would necessitate her to go through medical procedures to reduce her testosterone levels to compete or else give up her athletic career.
Initially, this complaint was brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland in 2019. The CAS discharged the case, ruling that while discriminatory, the regulation is necessary and proportionate for ensuring fair competition. Semenya unsuccessfully challenged the CAS judgment in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in 2020, which decided that Semenya had not adequately established that the CAS award contravened fundamental and publicly recognized principles of public order.
In response to the judgment of the Swiss court, Semenya lodged a complaint with the ECHR, alleging violations of several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. Following the ECHRdecision in favour of Semenya on some articles, Switzerland put forth a referral request to ECHR’s Grand Chamber in late 2023.
The request was granted in Semenya v. Switzerland, with third parties like the UK government, World Athletics, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights invited to contribute to the written procedure. The Grand Chamber, composed of 17 judges, has since gathered to deliberate on the case after the Wednesday morning hearing, with a final ECHR decision now anticipated.