ABSTRACT

This article describes the system of sports justice in Switzerland with its main principles and its most important legal institutions. These main legal principles are of paramount importance for worldwide sports justice as they are constantly applied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which reviews the decisions not only of the national but also of international sports federations. The decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport are subject to appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which makes the Swiss Federal Supreme Court the highest authority in worldwide sports justice. Due to the Swiss legal system, its jurisprudence has, unfortunately, not such a big effect for the implementation of basic legal principles in sports as it could and should have.

INTRODUCTION

Organized sport and therewith sports justice is of paramount importance in Switzerland. Many important bodies organize worldwide sports from Switzerland. Among others FIFA, IOC, UEFA, FEI, FIBA, FIVB and IIHF are all incorporated in Switzerland, which makes Swiss association law applicable for the relationship between the international sports federations and their foreign members.
Furthermore, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) are domiciled in Switzerland.

For sports justice, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has a worldwide importance as almost all international sports federations have an arbitration clause in their articles of association according to which their disputes are decided by CAS. CAS is an arbitral tribunal having its seat in Switzerland and consequently applying Swiss law. The arbitral awards of CAS are subject to judicial review by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Swiss sports justice is therefore very important for sports justice all over the world. As CAS is the subject of another chapter of this book, this chapter concentrates primarily (i) on the system of Swiss sports justice in general (see below para. 2 and 3) as well as (ii) the sports justice of the national sports federations (see below para. 4 to 6) and (iii) on the sports justice of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (see below para. 7).

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