La Cour européenne des droits de l’homme (troisième section) décision requête no 7198/07 Erwin Bakker contre la Suisse / European Court Of Human Rights (ECHR). – Strasbourg : Council of Europe (CoE), 2019. – (Requête No 7198/07)
Related cases:
- CAS 2005_A_936 UCI vs Erwin Bakker & KNWU
April 20, 2006 - CAS 2005_A_969 Erwin Bakker vs KNWU & UCI
May 5, 2006 - Swiss Federal Court 4A_237_2010 Erwin Bakker vs UCI
October 6, 2010
On 5 May 2005 the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS 2005/A/936) decided to impose a 2 year period of ineligibility on the Dutch cyclist Erwin Bakker for his first anti-doping rule violation after he tested positive for the prohibited substance Testosterone as appealed with CAS by the International Cycling Union (UCI).
On 20 April 2006 in the case CAS 2005/A/969 the CAS Panel decided to impose a lifetime period of ineligibility on the Athlete for his second anti-doping rule violation after he tested positive for Erythropoietin (EPO) as appealed with CAS by the Athlete.
In April 2010 the Athlete filed an appeal against the CAS decision of 5 May 2006 (CAS 2005/A/969) with the Swiss Federal Court which was deemded inadmissible on 6 October 2010.
Hereafter the Athlete appealed the decision of the Swiss Federal Court with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Athlete argued that through their decision that his appeal was inadmissible the Swiss Federal Court had violated his right for a fair trial.
Considering the Athlete’s grievances the European Court establish that the Swiss Federal Court in its decision of 6 October 2010 stipulated sufficient grounds for their conclusion that the Athlete’s appeal was inadmissible. Accordingly the European Court concludes that the Athlete’s complaint was unfounded and insufficiently motivated.
Therefore the European Court of Human Rights decides on 26 September 2019 to uphold the decision of the Swiss Federal Court and rules that the Athlete's complaint was inadmissible.
