Sports Investigations Law And The Echr

This book focuses on the analysis of coercive measures that sports organisations are permitted to use as part of their internal sports investigation proceedings to investigate sports rule violations. The legality of such coercive measures is measured against the legal regime of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The book examines the important issue of the applicability of the ECHR to private sports organisations, which is currently widely debated in the field of sports law. The ECHR is hereby used as the analytical framework, which should also be a source of inspiration for jurisdictions outside the scope of application of the ECHR. The book further explores if and to what extent sports organisations and law enforcement agencies may exchange intelligence in support of both internal sports investigation proceedings and criminal investigations. At all stages, the work seeks to strike a balance between the interest of sports organisations to investigate sports rule violations and the rights of athletes and other sportspersons. The work will be an invaluable resource for students, academics and policy-makers working in the area of Sports Law and Human Rights Law.

"This book focuses on the analysis of coercive measures that sports organisations are permitted to use as part of their internal sports investigation proceedings to investigate sports rule violations. The legality of such coercive measures is measured against the legal regime of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The book examines the important issue of the applicability of the ECHR to private sports organisations, which is currently widely debated in the field of sports law. The ECHR is hereby used as the analytical framework, which should also be a source of inspiration for jurisdictions outside the scope of application of the ECHR. The book further explores if and to what extent sports organisations and law enforcement agencies may exchange intelligence in support of both internal sports investigation proceedings and criminal investigations. At all stages, the work seeks to strike a balance between the interest of sports organisations to investigate sports rule violations and the rights of athletes and other sportspersons. The work will be an invaluable resource for students, academics and policy-makers working in the area of Sports Law and Human Rights Law"--

European Sports Law: Collected Papers 2nd edition contains the collected works (1989-2012) of Stephen Weatherill, Jacques Delors Professor of European Community Law, Somerville College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, with an extensive introduction on the background and rationale for the selected papers. Stephen Weatherill is a leading academic and author on the subject of European Union law and professional sport. His work is of the highest academic standard and practice-oriented at the same time, which has a strong impact on major court cases and the development of international sports law in general. The updated 2nd edition is a vademecum for those involved with international sport and the challenges European law and sport provide and is an indispensable tool for administrators, managers, researchers, academics, marketers, broadcasters, advisers and practitioners. The book appears in the ASSER International Sports Law Series (ISSN: 1874-6926), under the editorship of Dr. David McArdle, Dr. Ben Van Rompuy and Marco van der Harst LL.M.

Sports law has been growing with increasing rapidity over the years since the first edition of this book was published in 1999, regularly making headlines as well as leading to a developing body of law practised by specialist lawyers. This revised work, by leading practitioners in the field, with a foreword by Lord Coe, provides a coherent framework for understanding the principles of sports law in this area, as well as a deep analysis of its key features. The subject is split into various areas of practice: first, regulatory rules, which embrace the constitutional aspect of organised sport, including the disciplinary procedures of the various governing organisations; second, broadcasting and marketing resulting from the commercial exploitation, including sponsorship, of sports clubs, sporting events and players; and third, player's rights and obligations, which embraces a wide range of legal issues including club transfers and player contracts, and issues arising from employment (including discrimination law), personal injury and criminal law. Special attention is paid to the impact of EU and Human Rights law as well as to the influential jurisprudence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. London 2012 provides an appropriate point at which to assess the current state of the law, as well as a look to the future. The target readership extends from solicitors, barristers and legal advisers, to sports organisations and clubs, corporations involved in marketing and sponsorship, media companies, academics teaching sports law, and sports administrators. “I commend it to everyone who has to administer sport as well as to those who have to advise the administrators or argue cases in the field on whatever side. It is a gold medal book.” From the Foreword by Lord Coe KBE

​With a Foreword by Hein Verbruggen, UCI Honorary President for life and IOC Member This book deals with the legal position of the athlete in doping cases under the law of the regulations of national and international sports federations and how this legal position can be reinforced. According to the rules of the sports organizations applicable to doping offences, where prohibited substances are found in athlete’s bodily fluids the athlete in question is strictly liable for a doping offence. In the disciplinary procedure there is no discussion about his guilt and the athlete is not given an opportunity to disprove his guilt. One of the starting points of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) is that suspects are not guilty until their guilt has been proven conclusively based on the law, which includes the right of defence. The author analyzes the nature of doping offences and puts forward arguments in favour of the application of the rights of the defence as laid down in the ECHR in disciplinary doping proceedings. In his argumentation he also addresses the procedural system of sanctions and the practical and economic consequences the sanctions may have for the athlete concerned. As not only the athlete himself, but also sports clubs and sponsors may suffer serious damage from such sanctions, this book on the strict liability principle will be of great interest to practitioners and academics in more than one field of law. Moreover, it will be a welcome addition to the literature and the continuing debate on doping in sport, which is a matter of great concern to many interested parties. Janwillem Soek is a senior researcher at the ASSER International Sports Law Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this practical analysis of sports law in the European Union deals with the regulation of sports activity by both public authorities and private sports organizations. The growing internationalization of sports inevitably increases the weight of global regulation, yet each country maintains its own distinct regime of sports law and its own national and local sports organizations. Sports law at a national or organizational level thus gains a growing relevance in comparative law. The book describes and discusses both state-created rules and autonomous self-regulation regarding the variety of economic, social, commercial, cultural, and political aspects of sports activities. Self- regulation manifests itself in the form of by-laws, and encompasses organizational provisions, disciplinary rules, and rules of play. However, the trend towards more professionalism in sports and the growing economic, social and cultural relevance of sports have prompted an increasing reliance on legal rules adopted by public authorities. This form of regulation appears in a variety of legal areas, including criminal law, labour law, commercial law, tax law, competition law, and tort law, and may vary following a particular type or sector of sport. It is in this dual and overlapping context that such much-publicized aspects as doping, sponsoring and media, and responsibility for injuries are legally measured. This monograph fills a gap in the legal literature by giving academics, practitioners, sports organizations, and policy makers access to sports law at this specific level. Lawyers representing parties with interests in the European Union will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative sports law.

Stephen F. Ross presents this succinct introduction to key topics of law specific to sports, comparing approaches to sports law across the globe, with particular focus on the United States, Europe, and common law jurisdictions. Contrasting the profit-maximizing approach of North American leagues with the global integrated approach of professional sports governed by national and international governing boards, the book offers a novel model for the latter.

Principles & Practice in EU Sports Law provides an overview of EU Sports Law. In particular it assesses sporting bodies' claims for legal autonomy from the 'ordinary law' of states and international organisations. Sporting bodies insist on using their expertise to create a set of globally applicable rules which should not be deviated from irrespective of the territory on which they are applied. The application of the lex sportiva, which refers to the conventions that define a sport's operation, is analysed, as well as how this is used in claims for sporting autonomy. The lex sportiva may generate conflicts with a state or international institution such as the European Union, and the motives behind sporting bodies' claims in favour of the lex sportiva's autonomy may be motivated by concern to uphold its integrity or to preserve commercial gain. Stephen Weatherill's text underlines the tense relationship between lex sportiva and national and regional jurisdictions which is exemplified with specific focus on the EU. The development of EU sports law and its controversies are detailed, reinforced by the example of relevant legal principles in the context of the practice of sports law. The intellectual heart of the text endeavours to make a normative assessment of the strength of claims in favour of sporting autonomy, and the comparison between different jurisdictions and sports is evident. Furthermore the enduring dilemma facing sports lawyers running throughout the text is whether sport should be regarded as special, and in turn how (far) its special character should be granted legal recognition --Front flap of book.