What is the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand?

The Tribunal is an independent body that determines certain types of disputes for the sports sector.

The Sports Tribunal was established in 2003 by the Board of Sport and Recreation New Zealand (SPARC) under the name of the Sports Disputes Tribunal of New Zealand.

This was following the 2001 report of the Sport, Fitness and Leisure Ministerial Task Force Getting Set for an Active Nation, that recommended that a sports disputes tribunal be set up which will:

"have a primary focus on national sport to assist National Sport Organisations to avoid lengthly and costly legal battles; ensure quality and consistent decision making for athletes in New Zealand sport; add credibility to the operation of elite sport in New Zealand and provide for appeals to the Court of Arbitration of Sport".

The Tribunal has been continued under the name of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand as a result of s 29 of the Sports Anti-Doping Act 2006 (the Act). This part of the Act came into force on 1 July 2007.

The Act sets out the sorts of disputes the Tribunal can hear and allows the Tribunal to determine its own practices and procedures for performing the Tribunal’s functions under the Act.

The Rules of the Sports Tribunal are made pursuant to s 39 of the Act. These Rules set out how the Tribunal determines disputes.

The aim of the Tribunal is to ensure that national sport organisations and other parties to a sports dispute, such as athletes, have access to an affordable, just and speedy means of resolving a sports dispute.

Information Guide

Download the Information Guide to the Sports Tribunal (pdf 143k)

The Information Guide:

• outlines the types of disputes the Tribunal can hear and decide
• tells you how to bring a dispute to the Tribunal and
• summarises the rules and procedures the Tribunal follows in hearing and resolving cases.

To download this guide you will need Acrobat Reader

Who are the Members of the Tribunal?

The Tribunal is currently made up of eight members who were selected for their legal and sporting experience. The Tribunal’s chairperson must be either a retired judge or a senior barrister or solicitor.

For each hearing, the chairperson will usually select three people from the eight Tribunal members. One must always be a member with legal expertise and it is this person who directs the hearing procedures. In complex cases, more than three members may be appointed to determine the dispute.

The Tribunal's current members are:

		Chair: Hon Barry Paterson CNZM, OBE, QC Barry Paterson has recently retired as a High Court Judge. Before his appointment to the Bench he practised both as a solicitor and then as a barrister (appointed Queen's Counsel in 1993) in Hamilton. He spent many years on the Board of New Zealand Cricket and has had an involvement in administration and legal matters in several sports. His CNZM was awarded for services to the judiciary. His OBE was awarded for services to cricket. Currently he is a member of the Board of Trustees of Eden Park. Barry is also Chairman of the New Zealand Press Council.
		Deputy chair: Nicholas Davidson QC A commercial litigator who practises as an arbitrator and mediator, Nicholas Davidson is currently the New Zealand National Cricket Commissioner, hearing disciplinary matters and appeals by players and administrators. Nicholas is also a member of judicial committees for the NZRFU and SANZAR, and is an IRB judicial officer. He was a member of the inquiry investigating the allegation of corruption for New Zealand Cricket.
		Carol Quirk Carol Quirk has over 30 years' experience in sport as an elite competitor, official, coach and administrator, including experience as Manager, Sport Development at the Hillary Commission. Carol has a strong understanding of the issues facing volunteers and was a member of the Ministerial Taskforce for the International Year of the Volunteer. She is also on the Surf Life Saving Disciplinary Panel and is a former President of Surf Life Saving New Zealand.
		Tim Castle A practising barrister, Tim Castle has 30 years' experience in litigation, representative sport, national and international sports administration and management. Tim is a judge/arbitrator of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Switzerland, presiding over disputes arising from the Kuala Lumpur and Manchester Commonwealth Games and the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Tim is also an international appointee to the International Cricket Council's Conduct/Corruption Commission and an ICC Appeals Commissioner.
		Ron Cheatley MBE A company director and general manager, Ron is well known for his 30 years' experience in cycling as a competitor, administrator and coach. A cycling coach for five Olympic Games, four Commonwealth Games, seven World Championships and five Oceania Championships, Ron's cyclists have won a total of 48 medals for New Zealand. His achievements have been recognised with the Halberg Awards' 'Sportsman of the Year' Coach Award in 1989/1990 and 1998.
		Adrienne Greenwood Adrienne has extensive experience in sports administration including serving as Chief Executive of Yachting New Zealand between 1986-2000. Her areas of interest and expertise are in the field of high performance sport and selection, and she is a member of the International Sailing Federation's Events Committee which has responsibility for Olympic and World Sailing Championships and policy. Adrienne also Chairs the international organisation's Women's Sailing Committee and is a member of the World Youth Sailing Trust. She is an avid golfer.