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08 August 2025
Issue: 8128 / Categories: Legal News , Sports law , Arbitration , Regulatory , Human rights , EU , International
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NLJ this week: A power imbalance in sports arbitration?

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In Semenya v Switzerland, the European Court of Human Rights found that Switzerland violated Caster Semenya’s right to a fair hearing by failing to rigorously review a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling that upheld discriminatory testosterone regulations. Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines the ruling, in which the court criticised the structural imbalance in international sports arbitration where athletes face mandatory arbitration under rules set by powerful governing bodies, in this week's NLJ

The court held that states must apply heightened judicial scrutiny when civil rights of fundamental importance are at stake. The ruling pressures Switzerland—and potentially other jurisdictions—to reform their oversight of sports arbitration.

It also raises broader questions about the legitimacy of CAS and the need for procedural safeguards to protect athletes’ rights in a system dominated by regulatory authorities.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

DWF—David Abbott & Claire Keat

Senior appointments in insurance services and commercial services announced

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Clyde & Co—Nick Roberts

Aviation disputes practice strengthened by London partner hire

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Ellisons—Marion Knocker

Residential property lawyer promoted to partnership

NEWS
he abolition of assured shorthold tenancies and section 21 evictions marks the beginning of a ‘brave new world’ for England’s rental sector, writes Daniel Bacon of Seddons GSC
Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way column rounds up a flurry of procedural and regulatory changes reshaping housing, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and personal injury litigation
Patients are being systematically failed by an NHS complaints regime that is opaque, poorly enforced and often stacked against them, argues Charles Davey of The Barrister Group
A wealthy Russian divorce battle has produced a sharp warning about trying to challenge foreign nuptial agreements in the wrong English court. Writing in NLJ this week, Vanessa Friend and Robert Jackson of Hodge Jones & Allen examine Timokhin v Timokhina, where the High Court enforced Russian judgments arising from a prenuptial agreement despite arguments based on the landmark Radmacher decision
An obscure Victorian tort may be heading for an unexpected revival after a significant Privy Council ruling that could reshape liability for dangerous escapes, according to Richard Buckley, barrister and emeritus professor of law at the University of Reading
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