#ecthr ruling

Caster Semenya was discriminated against by rules which forced her to lower her testosterone levels in order to continue competing, according to a judgement from the European Court of Human Rights. The 32-year-old, a two-time 800 metres Olympic champion, was legally identified as female at birth but has a condition which means her body naturally produces higher levels of testosterone than women without the condition. She has been unable to compete at her favoured distance since 2019, following the introduction of limits on testosterone levels for female athletes which would have forced her to use medication. Previous legal challenges to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court were rejected, but the ECHR found her human rights had been violated. A release issued by the court stated: ‘The Court found in particular that the applicant had not been afforded sufficient institutional and procedural safeguards in Switzerland to allow her to have her complaints examined effectively, especially since her complaints concerned substantiated and credible claims of discrimination as a result of her increased testosterone level caused by differences of sex development (DSD).’ [...] The chamber judgement is not final, and can be referred to a Grand Chamber of the court for further consideration if a request is made.

The European Court of Human Rights said on Tuesday the Dutch government was at fault for failing to give sufficient weight to a Moroccan man’s mental illness when immigration authorities revoked his residency permit in 2018. The Strasbourg-based court found that Karim Azzaqui, who was convicted of rape in 1996, was trying to reintegrate into Dutch society after being released from a psychiatric clinic in 2016. Azzaqui moved to the Netherlands with his father when he was ten. He had been convicted of multiple crimes, including theft and robbery, before he was sentenced to two years in jail for sexual assault. The court in Arnhem recommended TBS, a compulsory assessment and treatment for criminals with mental health problems. The 51-year-old was held in a treatment facility for a decade before experts determined he could be released as he had consistently shown good behaviour.