A Protocol for Being Heard: Invoking a New Right for an Open Arbitration Hearing in Europe. Issue 3 (1st March 2019) - Wojtowicz, Piotr
Abstract : Last month, author Piotr Wojtowicz analyzed in detail the holding of European Court of Human Rights in Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, No. 40575/10 and No. 67474/10, Eur. Ct. H.R. (Oct. 2, 2018) (available in French at https://bit.ly/2DLPVDR ) (English language press release available using the search at https://bit.ly/2s9RLG9 ), in a combined appeal of arbitration matters, from Switzerland's highest Court but originally before the Court of Arbitration in Sports. See "You Will Be Heard: The European Court of Human Rights Clarifies the Arbitration Right to a Public Hearing, " 37 Alternatives 27 (February 2019) (available at https://bit.ly/2MSJJuQ ). The ECHR decision found that in one of the two athlete's appeals, because facts in issue were disputed and the competitor's professional reputation was at stake, the particularity of the proceedings called for a public hearing at an arbitration on discipline. This month, the author discusses a potential protocol for requesting a hearing, which traditionally have been presumed closed, as well as the implications for commercial arbitration .