Sports Justice in England

This contribution highlights the complex and multi-faceted nature of sports justice in the UK, specifically in England. The key findings to emerge from this work are: (1) the state does not directly regulate sport although it does exert statutory and non-statutory influences on sport, (2) sports bodies must comply with the standards expected by ordinary courts, (3) contractual relations lie at the heart of many sporting relationships in the UK, (4) public law remedies, such as judicial review, are not available to challenge decisions of sports governing bodies but (5) the courts operate a private law supervisory jurisdiction over decisions of sports governing bodies meaning that the standards expected of sports governing bodies are very similar to those expected under judicial review, (6) in the law of tort courts have accepted that in sport a duty of care is owed by participants, match officials, governing bodies and event organisers, (7) criminal law prosecutions in sport are rare, particularly those concerning injury sustained on the field of play, (8) sports bodies are keen to insulate ‘domestic sports law’ from the influence of ‘national sports law’ and, therefore, (9) sophisticated disciplinary commissions and arbitral bodies play an essential role in resolving English sports disputes.