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Privacy and Confidentiality

Inquiries to the Tribunal are treated as private and confidential.

Under the Rules of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand, cases proceeding before the Tribunal are also treated as private and confidential until a final decision is issued. The Tribunal will not disclose information about current cases to the media or anyone else making inquiries (unless the parties to a case agree otherwise or the Rules of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand or any other relevant rules state otherwise).

This means that the Tribunal is generally unable to confirm whether a particular case is before it, or whether a particular athlete or sport is involved in a case before the Tribunal.

However, the Tribunal generally publishes its final decision on its website at the conclusion of a case.

There are some differences in privacy and confidentiality requirements between anti-doping cases and other cases:

Anti-doping cases

The Rules of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand state that proceedings in anti-doping cases are private and confidential, except where the parties agree otherwise or the anti-doping rules governing the matter state otherwise. Anti-doping rules also generally state that provisional suspension hearings and provisional suspension decisions are to be kept confidential, until a final decision on the alleged anti-doping rule violation is made. However, the Tribunal can publicly report the provisional suspension decision before then, if it thinks it is in the best interests of the NSO.

Therefore, all details of anti-doping proceedings (such as the identity of the athlete or sport, whether there has been a provisional suspension, and when final hearings are to be held) will usually be private and confidential until the Tribunal issues its final decision.

The Tribunal reports its decision in accordance with the relevant anti-doping rules, which usually require the Tribunal to publish its final decision if the athlete is found to have committed an anti-doping violation. However, if the Tribunal decides the athlete has not committed an anti-doping violation, the decision can only be published if the athlete consents to this.

Other cases

The Rules of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand state that proceedings in other cases (such as appeals against decisions of NSOs or the NZOC, or sports-related disputes referred by agreement) will usually be private and confidential. In these cases, the Tribunal can decide to hold a hearing in public if it considers there are exceptional circumstances or if the parties agree.

Final decisions in these cases are also published, unless the Tribunal decides otherwise.

Contact us

As noted above, specific details of proceedings before the Tribunal are private and confidential. The Registrar will be pleased to answer any other inquiries you have about the Sports Tribunal and its processes and procedures.

See contact.

Tribunal media distribution list

The Tribunal emails its decisions and media releases to members of the media.

If you would like to be placed on the Tribunal’s email distribution list, please advise and send your email address to the Registrar. The Registrar may be emailed at info@sportstribunal.org.nz.

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