The Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS), based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has just published
(July, 2009) a Digest of the Awards made by its Ad Hoc Division (AHD) - a kind
of circuit tribunal of the CAS - during the Beijing Olympic Games held from 8 – 24 August, 2008; and, as
usual, they make very interesting reading. They are published in the two
official languages of the CAS: English and French.
Writing in the Foreword,
the President of the CAS AHD, Dr Robert Briner, had this to say:
‘The caseload of
the ad hoc Division was comparable to those of the last Games. The most
important aspect of the role of the ad hoc Division of CAS in the Olympic Games
….. is, however, not the number of cases decided but the fact that there exists
an independent body which in a very short time is able to render and
independent and fair judgment in the interests of the athletes and all other
participants and thereby uphold the integrity of the Olympic Games. This was
the seventh time CAS set up an ad hoc Division at Olympic Games. The presence
and activity of CAS has therefore become a mature, traditional element of the
Games. It has established and refined its working methods and is universally
accepted throughout the Olympic Movement.’
The CAS AHD has
operated at all the Summer and Winter Games since and including those held in
Atlanta in 1996 (the so-called ‘COKE Games’); and will again be in session at
the Winter and Summer Games in Vancouver and London in 2010 and 2012
respectively. Under the CAS AHD rules, the proceedings are free of charge and
awards must rendered within twenty-four hours of a case being brought before
the CAS AHD. Of course, if the services of a lawyer or a translator are engaged
in the proceedings, their fees must be paid by the party concerned.
The jurisdiction of
the CAS AHD is derived from the provisions of article 59 of the Olympic
Charter, the latest version of which dates from 7 July, 2007, as follows:
‘Any dispute
arising on the occasion of, or in connection with, the Olympic Games shall be
submitted exclusively to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in accordance with
the Code of Sports-related Arbitration.’
To give effect to
these mandatory and exclusive provisions, the Supreme People’s Court of the
People’s Republic of China issued on 10 June, 2008 to the relevant People’s
Court in Beijing and also to the co-host cities, with the exception of Hong
Kong (SAR), the following directive:
‘The period of the
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, pursuant to the stipulations under the Host City
Contract for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in the Year 2008 executed by and
between us and the IOC, and provisions under the Olympic Charter, the Court of
Arbitration for Sport will set up an ad hoc division in Beijing to conduct
arbitration of three types of sports-related disputes concerning the events of
the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.’
The types of disputes
concerned are as follows:
• eligibility disputes;
• doping test results; and
• event results or referee penalties.
To guarantee the
exclusive jurisdiction of the CAS AHD, the above directive also included the
following provision:
‘The People’s Court
will not accept any legal proceeding instituted in regard to the aforesaid
disputes; provided that a party is dissatisfied with the arbitration award made
by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in regard to the aforesaid disputes and
thus requests that the People’s Court withdraw such award or applies to the
People’s Court for enforcement, the People’s Court shall not accept.’
As far as the athletes
and other participants in the Olympic Games are concerned, they are required,
in their entry form, to submit all disputes to the CAS AHD whether they wish to
do so or not; otherwise they will not be allowed to participate. Quaere: is this a valid consent to arbitration? An
interesting subject and one for another occasion!
Eleven cases were
filed with the CAS AHD in Beijing; and, surprisingly, there were no doping
cases. About half the cases raised eligibility issues and the other half
concerned decisions taken by officials during the competitions. The sports
concerned included field hockey; swimming; tennis; wrestling; and sailing.
The cases were handled
by a team of 12 CAS arbitrators drawn from the five continents of the world and
they were supported administratively by members of the CAS Office.
Two of the Awards made
by the CAS AHD in Beijing were appealed – unsuccessfully – to the Swiss Federal
Tribunal and the text of the Judgement of the Tribunal delivered on 22 January,
2009 is included in the CAS Digest. The Digest also usefully contains the AHD
Rules for the Beijing Games and the CAS Application for AHD Arbitration Form.
A copy of the Digest
of the Beijing CAS AHD Awards and further information on the CAS generally may
be obtained from:
Court of Arbitration
for Sport
Avenue de Beaumont 2
1012 Lausanne
Switzerland
Tel: + 44 21 613 50 00
Fax: + 44 21 613 50 01
E-Mail: info@tas-cas.org
Website: www.tas-cas.org
Ian Blackshaw, Sports
Lawyer
TMC Asser International
Sports Law Centre, The Hague
