Switzerland: The Establishment of a Sports Tribunal – A New Milestone!
By Olivia Curiger, Attorney-at-Law, Pachmann Ltd., Attorneys-at-Law, Zurich, Switzerland.
The fight against doping and ethics violations in sport has undergone significant developments in Switzerland since the beginning of this century.
The most recent milestone is the establishment of the Swiss Sports Tribunal, which has taken over the tasks of the Disciplinary Chamber of Swiss Sport on 1 July 2024. Consequently, the Swiss Sports Tribunal has been constituted as the first-instance tribunal for decisions regarding doping and ethics violations in Switzerland.
The need for this transition followed the enactment of the Ethics Statute at the beginning of 2022, which expanded the Disciplinary Chamber's responsibilities, resulting in a significant increase in the number of cases within its responsibility. Consequently, the 2022 Annual Report of the Disciplinary Chamber highlighted the need to adapt its organisation to the new responsibility and to maintain the quality of its jurisprudence, as the Disciplinary Chamber was no longer able to cope with its workload.[1]
In response, the Executive Board of Swiss Olympic thus resolved to establish a working group with the objective of developing a conceptual framework for potential modifications to the organisational structure of the Disciplinary Chamber.[2] The working group recommended the transition to an autonomous national foundation in order to increase its independence in external perception.[3] On 24 November 2023, the Swiss Olympic Sports Parliament approved the proposed changes to the organisational structure and thus the establishment of the foundation Swiss Sports Tribunal.[4]
The establishment of the Swiss Sports Tribunal was driven by a number of interrelated objectives. These included managing the increased workload resulting from the Disciplinary Chamber responsibility for ethics cases, professionalising the management of cases, reducing the duration of proceedings and strengthening the independence of the disciplinary process.[5]
In order to achieve these objectives, modifications were required. The most important modification is that the establishment of a foundation has resulted in the Swiss Sports Tribunal becoming an independent and impartial judicial body, thereby satisfying the criteria for a genuine court of arbitration as set forth in art. 353 et seq. of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code. Pursuant to art. 30 para. 1 Verfregl, the Swiss Sports Tribunal will constitute itself as a court of arbitration as soon as it has established the necessary arbitration rules.
In an article, to be published in the December issue of the Sports Law and Taxation Journal, the author will take a closer look at the new Swiss Sports Tribunal organisational structure; the new procedural rules; and other important modifications, such as changes to the legal remedies and legal aid.
The Author may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
[1] Disciplinary Chamber of Swiss Sport, Annual Report 01.01.2022-31.12.2022, www.swissolympic.ch/dam/jcr:63b6939e-c666-48dd-8c7a-9a0fc9a649d7/Jahresbericht%20DK%202022_DE_final.pdf.
[2] Swiss Olympic, Concept for the future Foundation Swiss Sports Tribunal, p. 3, www.storage.googleapis.com/evenito-uploads-prod/spaces/1a7a062b-2bf6-4f0b-b2a4-2c54bc83b6cb/c9c9eea7-9ca4-4d3f-8a75-78bbd8496681.pdf.
[3] Swiss Olympic, Concept for the future Swiss Sports Tribunal Foundation, p. 11 (see fn. 9).
[4] Swiss Olympic, Media release dated 24 November 2023, www.swissolympic.ch/ueber-swiss-olympic/news-medien/medienmitteilungen/2023/Der-Schweizer-Sport-steht-hinter-Olympia-Pl-nen.
[5] Swiss Olympic, Presentation Ordinary meeting of the Sports Parliament on 24 November 2023, p. 51, www.sportparlament.event.swissolympic.ch/#:~:text=Die%20n%C3%A4chste%20ordentliche%20Versammlung%20des,in%20Ittigen%20bei%20Bern%20statt.
