Criminal Liability for Using Doping in Sport: German Experience - an Example for Russia?

Abstract

The use of doping in sport is quite widespread at present. Primarily, it concerns professional and high level sport, where the best performance results in high income and profitable endorsement deals. It creates a temptation to improve the natural sport achievements through the use of doping. The public danger of such actions is evident: doping not only poses a threat for the athlete’s health, it also, from the viewpoint of justice, infringes on the interests of those athletes who, out of principle, never use prohibited substances and (or) methods to improve their performance in sports. Besides, such actions considerably reduce the educational effect of sport, including the declared honesty and fairness of competition. Finally, the use of doping misleads fans, spectators and sponsors of sports competitions. The authors analyze German criminal anti-doping legislation and assess the possibilities of using some of its clauses to improve Russian criminal law norms that provide for criminal liability in the cases of doping-related crimes. They show if it is possible to use the athletes’ laboratory doping tests, probes, etc. as well as the official decisions of international, national disciplinary bodies and sport courts in criminal proceedings in connection with the well-known principle of nemo tenetur («nobody is bound to incriminate himself» — equivalent to the clause of Art. 51 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation) while taking into account the prejudice principles of Russia and Germany.