Doping in sport: What role for administrative law?

his chapter examines the intersection of administrative law and doping in sport. Administrative law is the specialised area of law concerned with challenging government decisions. The chapter explains how administrative law is applicable to doping decisions at an Australian national level, as doping decisions are made by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, a body created by and exercising its powers under a Commonwealth Act. The authors detail the different options for challenging a doping decision in Australia using administrative law, which include merits review by a tribunal and judicial review or an appeal conducted by a court. At an international level, administrative law’s fundamental concepts are reflected and embedded into the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Code and Rules, and also the World Anti-Doping Agency’s Code. The centrally applicable concept is procedural fairness (sometimes referred to as natural justice or due process) which requires all administrative decisions to be made by an unbiased decision-maker following a fair hearing. The chapter concludes that administrative law principles can provide much beneficial guidance to doping decision-makers that will assist in improved decision-making, as well as providing a possible basis for affected individuals and entities to challenge doping decisions.