Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) receives Swiss Federal Tribunal Blessing
In a 14 December 2012 ruling, the Swiss Federal Tribunal (Tribunal) dealt with a request pursuant to Article 190(2) of the Swiss Code on Private International Law (PILA) to set aside an award rendered under the BAT rules. The Tribunal found that the “objet du recours …. ne fait problème en l’espèce” [“the object of the appeal does not present any problems in this case”]. This short note means that the Tribunal has recognised the BAT as a true arbitral tribunal under Swiss law. This follows from the fact that only “arbitral awards” can be the subject matter of an appeal under Article 190(2) PILA.
In its decision, the Tribunal also put an end to a debate which had divided the judiciary at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): The Tribunal ruled that the request for review was admissible even though the BAT award had been rendered without reasons, as allowed under the BAT rules in so-called “low value cases”, and the Appellant had failed to exercise her right to request the reasons for the award.
The first appeal of a BAT award was rejected by the Tribunal 29 May 2012 on the grounds that the applicable arbitration clause provided for a waiver of the right of appeal as allowed under Article 192 PILA for cases in which neither party is Swiss.
As of 31 January 2013, a total 367 requests for arbitration have been registered by the BAT since the first case was filed in 2007.