Comfortable satisfaction; the standard of proof used by the Court of Arbitration for Sports, with particular reference to corruption cases

Abstract

A term paper which aims to propose an adaptation of the ‘comfortable satisfaction standard of proof’ adopted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and thus applied to the Maltese Sports Jurisdiction.

In his journal; ‘The Role of Arbitration in Dealing with Sporting Fraud Issues’, Mike Morgan refers to the comfortable satisfaction standard of proof as a standard which lies between the civil law standard; ‘Balance of Probabilities’, and the criminal law standard; ‘Beyond Reasonable Doubt’. A definition formed by the CAS panel in N., J., Y., W. v FINA and one which I have also adopted throughout my paper, in order to propose an introduction of the comfortable satisfaction standard of proof in relation to cases of sports corruption in the sports jurisdiction of Malta.

In the initial stages of this paper, one will find an overview of the structure of the CAS and its working procedures. Chapter 1 attempts to explain the ‘comfortable satisfaction’ standard of proof and its sliding-scale position between the criminal and civil law standards of proof. An analysis of this was done on a total of four cases; two doping-based cases and two corruption-based cases, in order to better understand the concept and workings of the ‘comfortable satisfaction’ standard of proof across the board.

Chapter 2 delves into the current Maltese legislation on ‘Sports Dispute Resolution’. The articles related to the subject matter are all of legal validity yet until present day have never been implemented by the Maltese government, irrelevant of the completion of the ‘Sports Act’ in 2002. This second chapter also discusses the various sports organizations operating in Malta and their disciplinary boards, who’s standards of proof are based on the civil law standard ‘balance of probabilities’. The final chapter of this term paper; Chapter 3, is composed of two major proposals both of which seek to improve ‘sport dispute resolution’ in Malta. The former paragraphs of this chapter, discuss the importance and benefits of a sports tribunal within the Maltese legislation and hence go on to propose a system where this is present; hence implementing the Court of Arbitration as a case study. The latter, propose that the comfortable satisfaction standard of proof is incorporated into the regulations of sports bodies in relation to corruption cases.