Download the Code 2021 edition (in force from 01.01.21)
The January 2021 edition contains a single amendment, and that amendment is one phrase: arbitrators and mediators of the Court may no longer appear before the Court as a party's expert.
| In force from | 1 January 2021 — pursuant to Article R67 |
| Adopting body | International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) — pursuant to Article S6 |
| Structure | 26 statutory articles (S1 to S26) + 44 procedural articles (R27 to R70) |
| Status | Superseded — replaced by the November 2022 edition |
What is the Code of Sports-related Arbitration?
The Code of Sports-related Arbitration of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) brings together two documents in a single text: the Statutes of the Bodies Working for the Settlement of Sports-related Disputes (Articles S1 to S26), which establish and organise the International Council of Arbitration for Sport and the Court itself, and the Procedural Rules (Articles R27 to R70), which govern ordinary arbitration proceedings, appeals arbitration proceedings and mediation. The Court is seated in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its awards may be challenged, subject to the conditions laid down in Swiss law, only before the Swiss Federal Tribunal within thirty days.
About the January 2021 editionChanges from July 2020
Key changes from the previous edition
- Prohibition on appearing as an expert (Article S18)Article S18 previously provided that arbitrators and mediators of the Court could not act as counsel for a party before the Court. In this edition two words were added, so that the provision reads: they may not act as counsel or expert for a party. This addition closes a route that had previously been open: an arbitrator on the Court's list could give an opinion as a party's expert in a case in which they were not themselves sitting as arbitrator.
Who this document matters to
Every case that reaches international arbitration from international federations, national Olympic committees or anti-doping organisations ultimately arrives at this text: clubs and federations in transfer disputes and financial claims, athletes facing a disciplinary decision or a doping suspension, and clients and sports lawyers drafting appeal briefs and observing time limits. The point that is decisive in practice: pursuant to Article R67, each proceeding is governed by the edition in force on the date the proceeding was commenced, not by the edition published today. Pending cases likewise remain subject to the previous rules, unless both parties request application of the new rules. For that reason, access to the text of earlier editions has practical importance.