WADA commissioned Judge J-P Costas, former President of the European Court of Human Rights, to provide an independent legal opinion on a number of aspects of the draft 2015 World Anti-Doping Code:
Judge Costas, fromer judge at the European Court of Human Rights, was asked to opine on eight specific matters:
1. The compatibility of the new provisions pertaining to sanctions, in particular the provisions in draft Article 10.2 of the Code, with the aforementioned principles.
2. The applicability of Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights to draft Article 8.1 of the Code on disciplinary anti-doping procedures.
3. The compatibility of the principle of prohibited association in draft Article 2.10 of the Code with the aforementioned principles.
4. The compatibility of draft Article 10.12 of the Code (payment of cost awards as a condition for eligibility) with the aforementioned principles, in the light of the decision of the Swiss Federal Court in the Matuzalem case.
5. The compatibility of the publication of sanctions, in particular of draft Article 14.3.4 of the Code with the aforementioned principles.
6. The compatibility of the statute of limitations under draft Article 17 of the Code with the aforementioned principles.
7. Is it compatible or incompatible with human rights and the aforementioned principles to render an athlete or any other person ineligible for life for a second or third violation?
8. In view of the international standards regarding human rights, may anti-doping controls be performed on athletes anywhere, including at the athlete’s «residence», for example in a hotel room, and at any time including at night between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.?
Judge Costas took the view that the only truly problematic matter was Article 10.12 concerning repayment of cost awards. See question 4, above, opinion pp. 15 – 18. According to the Code Drafting Team, as a result this Article will be removed from the current draft 2015 Code to be sent to the WADA ExCo for consideration.
