The Making of a Lex Sportiva by the Court of Arbitration for Sport

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this contribution is to examine the structure and functions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in order to highlight a number of problems concerning judicial activities at the global level more generally. Section 2 will outline CAS’ organization and functions, from its inception to the present date. Section 3 will focus on the role of CAS in making a lex sportiva, and it will take into account three different functions: the development of common legal principles; the interpretation of global norms and the influence on sports law-making; and the harmonization of global sports law. Section 4 will consider the relationships between the CAS and public authorities (both public administrations and domestic courts), in order to verify the extent to which the CAS and its judicial system are self-contained and autonomous from States. Lastly, Sect. 5 will address the importance of creating bodies like CAS in the global arena, and it will identify the main challenges raised by this form of transnational judicial activity. The analysis of CAS and its role as law-maker, in fact, allows us to shed light on broader global governance trends affecting areas such as the institutional design of global regimes, with specific regard to separation of powers and the emergence of judicial activities.KeywordsInternational Olympic CommitteeDomestic CourtInternational CourtJudicial ActivityUnion Cycliste InternationaleThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.