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Rules clearly regulates the seat of the CAS as Lausanne, Switzerland,
which will mean that lex arbitri, the law governing the arbitration, is
Swiss Law. In order to have a valid arbitration agreement, parties must
comply with Swiss Law. Arbitration is regulated under two codes; the
Swiss Private International Law Act of 1987 (“PILA”), which will
come into enforce when the parties are not domiciled or habitual resi-
dents in Switzerland, and in other cases, the Swiss Civil Procedure
Code (“CPC”) will prevail.
Pursuant to Article 178 III of the PILA, “The arbitration agree-
ment must be made in writing, by telegram, telex, telecopy, or any other
means of communication, which permits it to be evidenced by text.”
CPC Article 358 reads, “The arbitration agreement must be made in
writing, or in any other form allowing it to be evidenced by text.” It is
clearly derived from the regulations of Swiss Law that arbitration
agreements must be in writing, or evidenced by text.
Applicable Law
The general rule regulated under Article R45 of the Rules states
that the parties are free to choose the law that will be applied to the
merits of the case; if the parties fail to make such decision, Swiss law
apply. The Panel can decide ex aequo et bono upon the parties’ autho-
rization. In most cases where a dispute is related to football, the parties
will most likely have previously determined the application of the
FIFA Rules in their agreements. In these cases, the Panel primarily
applies FIFA Rules and subsidiary Swiss law4.
Language
Article R29 of the Rules provides, in detail, the working language
of the CAS as either French or English. Pursuant to R29, the parties are
free to choose between English or French. In cases where the parties
lack this determination, the President of the Panel or the President of
the Division will make the decision. If the Panel or the CAS Court
Office agree, the parties may request to conduct the proceedings in
another language.
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4 See: