Background to the ECHR Grand Chamber judgment in Semenya v Switzerland

This article explains the history of legal proceedings Caster Semenya brought before led to the European Court of Human Rights. In the second part of this article, the authors consider the basis for the Grand Chamber judgment, outlining its repercussions for the assessment of human rights and discrimination law claims in sport, at both the international level and in the domestic (UK) context.

• Introduction
• The background facts
• Development of the eligibility rules in athletics and initial challenges before the CAS
• The CAS Award
• The Swiss Federal Supreme Court (SFSC) judgment
• The first ECHR (Third Section Chamber) decision
• Analysis of the Convention substantive rights (no jurisdiction)

Please note that Chris Lavey acted for World Athletics throughout the legal proceedings in Semenya (up to and including the Grand Chamber’s judgment) and Ruth Kennedy acted for World Athletics in related proceedings.