After Semenya: The Current and Future Role of the European Court of Human Rights in Sports Arbitration
摘要
This contribution aims at summarising, contextualising and analysing the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Caster Semenya, an international-level athlete, who complained about certain regulations (“DSD Regulations”) of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF—now called “World Athletics”) requiring her to take hormone treatment to decrease her natural testosterone level for taking part in international competitions in the female category. Before the Court, she invoked, inter alia, the allegedly discriminatory nature of these regulations in light of Article 14 ECHR, as well as a violation of her right to fair trial (Article 6 ECHR). The contribution examines how the judgment fits into the previous case law of the Court regarding sports arbitration. A main part will be devoted to the Court’s approach to jurisdiction considering that the applicant is from South Africa and that the organisation having adopted the impugned regulations is based in Monaco. Finally, it will draw some conclusions on the future role of the Court as a neutral, last-instance arbitrator in the field of sport.