Court of Arbitration for Sport

Lausanne, Switzerland

French, English

1984

The International Court of Sport (French Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS, English Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS ) based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland is the top sports court, and thus the final decision-maker of the sports federations and national Olympic committees in dispute to international sports law.

The arbitral tribunal ( ambiguities in violation of rules ), procedural matters (for example, player transfers ), doping issues and sports-related contractual issues ( sponsorship, television rights, etc.) responsible for example, in disciplinary matters.

The tribunal was established in 1984 on the initiative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) established as an independent body. Since 1994 the CAS is the ICAS ( International Council of Arbitration for Sport ) was assumed. He owned in 2012 to over 300 judges from 87 nations. First and only until his death in 2007 was president of the Senegalese Keba Mbaye. On 3 April 2008 Mino Auletta was elected president, who already held provisionally after death Mbayes the presidency. His tenure ended in late 2010. Successor is the Australian John Coates, former vice president of CAS. He took office on January 1, 2011.

For the duration of certain major sporting events like the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, the International Sports Court directed since 1996 not permanent tribunals (see history section ) to ensure the rapid, preliminary processing and settlement of disputes that occur during the competitions. These questions usually relate to the admissibility of individual complaints or complaints of a national association, according to their opinion of another nation or their relatives had violated applicable competition rules.

History

The foundation goes back to an idea of the then IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who in 1981 proposed the creation of a sports jurisdiction. Reasons for this were the progressive professionalization of the sport in the early 1980s, which also brought an increase to dissolving sport -specific arbitration issues with it. Since sporting decisions usually arise at the international level, had received an international status to creating instance as well.

The statutes of the International Sports Court were ratified in 1983 and took effect on 30 June 1984 in force. The CAS was composed in its establishment of 60 members, who were initially intended by the IOC, the International Federations, the National Olympic Committees and the IOC President.

The first official acknowledgment by a supreme court of the country learned of the International Court of Sport in March 1993 by the Swiss Federal Court. This court recognized the jurisdiction and the judgment of the International Court of Justice against the German sports riders Elmar Gundel, the doping disqualification of his horse to. However, it criticized the organizational and financial influence by the IOC, as the IOC, the court fully funded and had the right to amend the articles of incorporation.

In 1994, the CAS was then fundamentally reformed. To make the Sport Court independent, was the International Council Of Arbitration for Sport ( ICAS ), a foundation under Swiss law as the supreme institution of the CAS established, which now took the lead and the financing of the CAS. There was a separate chamber for oppositions introduced in order to deal with such cases more quickly. In addition, a new code of laws for sport-specific case law was put into effect. In addition, the number of arbitrators has been increased. 2000, they should be already 186.

Opened in 1996, the ICAS offices in Sydney and Denver (later New York ) in order to facilitate access to the CAS in the Americas and Oceania. At the Summer Olympics in Atlanta not permanent tribunals were first established, edit the arbitration issues being. 2000 next to the Olympic Games even such a tribunal was first introduced at the European Football Championships. 2002 also saw the FIFA CAS as ultimate international sports court.

Problems and criticism

Specifics of the case law, the responsibilities and the legal validity of judicial decisions contributed in the past to be repeated in acceptance difficulties of the International Sports Court.

The International Court of Sport is governed by Swiss law. Its decisions can be challenged before the Swiss Federal Court and also canceled. This would only be the case if qualified appeal grounds, the CAS for example, would gross procedural errors are detected. Although the International Court of Sport functions as top sports jurisdiction in most countries, it is not recognized by all national sport federations as a last resort. This prevents an international equal treatment of all athletes in sports law issues.

Judgments of the International Court of Sport have civil and criminal law basically no effect. So complained several athletes caught doping led a law in their national courts of law. Danilo Hondo procured for example, in 2006 the Swiss Federal Supreme Court for the cancellation of sanctions imposed by CAS doping suspension to a final legal decision.

The International Court of Sport became moot due to various decisions on several occasions in the criticism.

• 2003 rejected the CAS from a request by the Athletics IAAF. The American Association of Athletics Federations (USA Track & Field) should reveal the name of a doping sinner who for the USA won a medal in Athletics at the 2000 Olympic Games. The International Sports Court justified the decision with the legal regulations in the U.S.. The USATF, the athletes who have tested positive before the games not locked and the offense had not been reported to the World Federation, had threatened a million lawsuit if the rights of the athlete would have been violated by the attribution. Furthermore, the timely removal of legal contradictions between national and international regulations by the IAAF would have been missed.
• 2004 came the decision to withdraw the gold medal of the German Olympic winners in Eventing from Athens because of an interruption caused by a failure of the timer rule violation, lack of understanding, since this decision alone punished the athletes.
• 2005, the CAS overturned the doping suspension of railway confessed cyclist Mark French, because for a lock on scientific evidence would be needed and a confession is not sufficient.
• In 2006 the International Sports Court a suit of DSV against a pronounced by the FIS protective barrier for the cross-country skier Evi Sachenbacher floor at the Olympic Winter Games in Turin due to an excessively high hemoglobin value from, although the DSV could prove that the athlete genetic has a marginal value still increased in height long stay.

• On February 26, 2014 Chamber of the District Court of Munich I spoke to Claudia Pechstein his judgment action against German Speed ​​Skating Association ( DESG ) and International Skating Union ( ISU) (AZ 37 O 28331/12 ). The judgment represents the entire system of sports jurisdiction question: ES calls in the " athlete agreement " made ​​arbitration agreement " invalid " because this was " not taken voluntarily by the applicant ." At the time when there had been a "structural imbalance "; DESG and ISU had played " a monopoly ".