Revue - Les Cahiers de l'Arbitrage N°1 - 2024 - 27

ARBITRAGE ET OLYMPISME : LES CHAMBRES AD HOC DU TAS
hoc Rules. The key characteristic and the main objective of the ad hoc Rules is to
ensure a fair and time-effective procedure.
Similar to the CAS, the arbitration procedure is set into motion by an
application of an individual or a federation. Such application is filed directly with
the ad hoc Division Court Office, most often by using the standard form that is
also available online. The particularity at this stage is that the application is served
on the respondent but also on other potentially interested parties indicated by the
applicant, most often together with the notice of a hearing, if the case is very
urgent and if the panel is already constituted.
The panel constitution is different from the CAS in the sense that the parties
- for obvious reasons of urgency - do not appoint an arbitrator, as the entire Panel
is appointed by the ad hoc Division President. Ad hoc arbitrators are still fully
bound by the duty of independence and impartiality as per Article 12 of the ad hoc
Rules and their independence is confirmed when the ICAS establishes the list of
the CAS ad hoc arbitrators, but also through a specific statement of independence
prior to their appointment on a particular case. Challenges are possible similar to
any arbitration proceedings.
Provisional measures are possible through the same criteria as in Article R37 of
the CAS Code, namely, risk of irreparable harm, chances of success to the merits
and balance of interests of the parties. This is stipulated in Article 14 of the ad hoc
Rules ( " Stay of Decision Challenged and Preliminary Relief of Extreme Urgency " ).
The procedure is more flexible and always tailored to the needs of the specific
dispute, with other interested parties (e.g., national teams or federations potentially
affected by the decision) being granted the opportunity to be heard, depending on
the urgency of the case.
The de novo review of CAS appeal proceedings is equally present in the ad hoc
Rules and foreseen in Article 16 ( " The Panel's Power to Review " ), however, the
law applicable to the merits is " the Olympic Charter, the applicable regulations,
general principles of law and the rules of law, the application of which it deems
appropriate " . Other than in commercial arbitration proceedings, the general
principles that most often apply to some extent in CAS proceedings (in particular
relating to disciplinary or eligibility matters) are essentially based on criminal or
administrative law, e.g. lex mitior or nulla poena sine lege. In practice, the ad hoc
panels systematically apply the Olympic Charter, with Swiss law applying on a
subsidiary basis in order to fill any gaps in the rules.
The major particularity of the ad hoc Divisions is obviously the speed of the
proceedings, with the time limit to render a decision being 24 hours following
the filing of the application. It is possible to extend such limit depending on the
circumstances, the urgency and the complexity of the case, through an extension
by the President of the ad hoc Division. Article 20 of the ad hoc Rules provides
that, in some complex cases or where there are no longer reasons to issue the
decision immediately, the panel may decide to refer the entire case - or part
of it, or even combined with an order for provisional measures - to the CAS in
Lausanne.
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Revue - Les Cahiers de l'Arbitrage N°1 - 2024

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