Abstract

The right to a fair trial is one of the backbones of the rule of law and a conditio sine qua non for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This article examines whether fair trial guarantees can also be exercised before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Do fair trial guarantees apply and, if not, should they apply to the sports arbitration proceedings before the CAS? If so, is the nature and scope of such fair trial guarantees broader, narrower or the same as in regular judicial proceedings? What happens when the CAS violates one of the fundamental principles of a fair trial? What are the most appropriate ways to improve the guarantee of a fair trial before the CAS? Does the monitoring jurisdiction of the Swiss Federal Tribunal suffice to guarantee procedural public policy guarantees, including fair trial guarantees? This article therefore identifies whether the procedural rules and case law of the CAS should follow all four component parts of the right to a fair trial (the right to a fair hearing, the right to an independent and impartial tribunal established by law, the right to a public hearing and the public pronouncement of judgments, and the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time). The balance of this article explores the nature, value and status of this concept through its fundamental principles developed in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
Full Paper
Jernej Letnar Černič
Senior Research Associate

Jernej Letnar Černič is Associate Professor of Human Rights Law at the Graduate School of Government and European Studies (Ljubljana and Kranj, Slovenia)

Summary

The right to a fair trial is one of the backbones of the rule of law and a conditio sine qua non for the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. This article examines whether fair trial guarantees can also be exercised before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Do fair trial guarantees apply and, if not, should they apply to the sports arbitration proceedings before the CAS? If so, is the nature and scope of such fair trial guarantees broader, narrower or the same as in regular judicial proceedings? What happens when the CAS violates one of the fundamental principles of a fair trial? What are the most appropriate ways to improve the guarantee of a fair trial before the CAS? Does the monitoring jurisdiction of the Swiss Federal Tribunal suffice to guarantee procedural public policy guarantees, including fair trial guarantees? This article therefore identifies whether the procedural rules and case law of the CAS should follow all four component parts of the right to a fair trial (the right to a fair hearing, the right to an independent and impartial tribunal established by law, the right to a public hearing and the public pronouncement of judgments, and the right to a fair trial within a reasonable time). The balance of this article explores the nature, value and status of this concept through its fundamental principles developed in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

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