The “Swiss Army Knife” of CAS arbitration

Abstract

The book chapter under review here is part of a broader publication aimed at providing a practical guide to the functioning of arbitration in Switzerland. The chapter of interest to us is an article-by-article commentary of the CAS Code of Sports-related Arbitration. Since the entry into force of its statutes in 1984, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (hereafter ‘‘the CAS’’) has dealt with more than 3,000 cases. In fact, since the turn of the century, it has become the main stage for dispute resolution in international sport, the ‘‘supreme court of world sport’’ dreamt by one of its founding fathers, the former IOC president JuanAntonio Samaranch. The worldwide press and public eagerly await its awards, which are closely scrutinized. However, the day-to-day legal functioning of the CAS remains largely obscure and ignored by non-specialized lawyers. Moreover, its crucial reliance on Swiss law is a difficult obstacle to surmount for those not versed in the subtleties of the Confederation’s laws. For many, the Code of Sports-related Arbitration (hereafter ‘‘the CAS Code’’) is the only document they are relying on to master the different aspects of CAS arbitration. The first CAS Code was adopted in 1994, as an aftershock to the famous Gundel case of the Swiss federal tribunal. Since then three modified versions of the CAS Code have entered into force, respectively, in 2004, 2012 and 2013. The CAS Code is freely available, but downloading it is not enough. Indeed, to truly appreciate its legal meaning one must make an important detour through the case law of both the CAS and the Swiss Federal tribunal. It is this detour that the book chapter under review endeavours to facilitate, by providing the relevant contextual and legal materials necessary to fully flesh out the bare legal bones of the CAS Code’s provisions. The authors are Swiss lawyers specialized in sports arbitration. Antonio Rigozzi is also a well-known professor of Swiss arbitration and sports law, the author of numerous academic contributions analysing the legal functioning of the CAS and more generally of international arbitration in Switzerland.