Study On The Recognition And Enforcement Of Awards Of Court Of Arbitration For Sports

As an international arbitration institution to solve disputes about sports,the Court of Arbitration for Sports has been considered as the supreme court in the sports field by many states.With the expansion of the scope of disputes resolved by CAS,arbitration awards which require implementation other than declaration arise.And the number of CAS awards which are submitted to national courts seeking for recognition and enforcement is also increasing.Due to the reason that CAS has not formulated uniform rules for the recognition and enforcement system of CAS awards,most national courts would apply the New York Convention on the cases about recognition and enforcement of the CAS awards.Also,the internal enforcement system of arbitration for sports can promote parties to perform their obligations written in awards.But the internal enforcement system lacks legitimacy.Generally speaking,most countries will tend to approve the recognition and enforcement of CAS awards,based on acknowledgment of the independence and impartiality of CAS.However,due to the reason that the rules established by the New York Convention are still not perfect,many problems will appear during the process of application of the Convention,such as the definition of the concept of public policy,or the lack of procedural rules.These problems have been reflected in the field of international commercial arbitration,and might extend to the field of sports arbitration.In addition,due to the particularities of sports industry,such as the mandatory of arbitration agreements,the wide range of sports disputes resolved by CAS,and the internal autonomy of sports industry,these particularities might have conflicts with the provisions of the Convention,and might even affect the validity and implementation of CAS awards.National courts would not be able to resolve these conflicts and issues if they only apply the New York Convention when they decide whether to recognize and enforce CAS awards or not.The cases mentioned below which occurred in the United States,Britain,Spain,Germany and other countries have proved the appearance of problems which are mentioned above.In order to solve the above problems and to reduce the uncertainty and differences in the results of the recognition and enforcement of CAS awards,a unified criteria shall be adopted during the judicial review of CAS awards in the procedure ecognition and enforcement,so that the decisions would be more predictable and stable.It is necessary to formulate a unified judicial mechanism for the recognition and enforcement of CAS awards separately.In addition,Swiss court shall change its "inaction" attitude and strengthen judicial review system of the CAS awards to ensure the awards are reviewed lawfully.The most important measure which should be taken now is to amend the relevant rules of CAS Code and the internal enforcement system.Through the revision of the Constitution of Sports Arbitration,the procedural rules governing the recognition and enforcement of the CAS award would be more clear.The procedural rules can be helpul to guide national courts to adopt a unified approach.As for the internal enforcement system of sports,its application should be limited,to make sure that performence of the system is in compliance with law.