Cricket
12.48pm As we wait for further developments, it is worth pondering over one issue that has dogged the spot-fixing scandal from the very start: how to proceed in a case where alleged breaches of a sporting code - the ICC's anti-corruption code in this case - may involve breaches of a country's law, in this case UK criminal law.
In the very early days of the case, when the three players were being interviewed by UK police and had been provisionally suspended by the ICC, the PCB expressed concern that, in effect, two separate investigations were being carried out against the players, by the ICC and UK police. Though the PCB pulled back support swiftly enough, the players have repeated those concerns subsequently.
Most recently Salman Butt asked the ICC to defer the January 6-11 hearing in Doha on precisely those grounds; Butt's legal representatives were aiming for a postponement of the hearings to a date after the UK's Crown Prosecution Service had dealt with the case. The request was rejected but the issue is something that has concerned at least one other lawyer involved in the case.
The CPS announcement yesterday, that the players will face charges in a UK court, has made the issue even more relevant now. There is precedent - as there always is - in a horse racing scandal in the UK early in the 2000s. In short, a race fixing scandal was treated only as a criminal matter and not by the relevant sporting body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The criminal case eventually collapsed four years later and the BHA's own disciplinary inquiries had stopped when the criminal case began and were unable to be resumed.
A subsequent report into the whole affair, by Dame Elizabeth Neville, gave a legal opinion on the sphere of governance of sporting bodies and when it overlaps with another sphere, of criminal jurisdiction. It's worth reading the report though the most significant recommendation or conclusion that the it arrives to is this:
"The Review Team considers that the BHA should investigate and prosecute alleged breaches of the Rules and Orders of Racing notwithstanding that this conduct may amount to a criminal offence, subject to the exceptions set out below. The only circumstances in which disciplinary matters which are under investigation by the BHA should be remitted to the police or the Gambling Commission for consideration for criminal investigation are:
# where the disciplinary powers of the BHA are so inadequate in an individual case that the evidence necessary to prove the charge cannot be obtained or the penalty would be ineffective;
# where the conduct disclosed to the BHA concerns substantial non-racing or non-betting matters of a serious nature;
# where a disciplinary panel, appeal board or the Board of the BHA recommends such a step at the conclusion of disciplinary proceeding."
It is worth also looking at points 8.16 and 8.18 in the 'Analysis' section, the 'Legal Analysis' that follows and point 8.26 in the 'Conclusion.'
As must be obvious by now, there are no real updates coming out other than that the hearing continues, nearly three hours in. The feeling is that the longer it goes on, the less the chances that a deferment of verdict is likely.
news by espncricinfo
In the very early days of the case, when the three players were being interviewed by UK police and had been provisionally suspended by the ICC, the PCB expressed concern that, in effect, two separate investigations were being carried out against the players, by the ICC and UK police. Though the PCB pulled back support swiftly enough, the players have repeated those concerns subsequently.
Most recently Salman Butt asked the ICC to defer the January 6-11 hearing in Doha on precisely those grounds; Butt's legal representatives were aiming for a postponement of the hearings to a date after the UK's Crown Prosecution Service had dealt with the case. The request was rejected but the issue is something that has concerned at least one other lawyer involved in the case.
The CPS announcement yesterday, that the players will face charges in a UK court, has made the issue even more relevant now. There is precedent - as there always is - in a horse racing scandal in the UK early in the 2000s. In short, a race fixing scandal was treated only as a criminal matter and not by the relevant sporting body, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The criminal case eventually collapsed four years later and the BHA's own disciplinary inquiries had stopped when the criminal case began and were unable to be resumed.
A subsequent report into the whole affair, by Dame Elizabeth Neville, gave a legal opinion on the sphere of governance of sporting bodies and when it overlaps with another sphere, of criminal jurisdiction. It's worth reading the report though the most significant recommendation or conclusion that the it arrives to is this:
"The Review Team considers that the BHA should investigate and prosecute alleged breaches of the Rules and Orders of Racing notwithstanding that this conduct may amount to a criminal offence, subject to the exceptions set out below. The only circumstances in which disciplinary matters which are under investigation by the BHA should be remitted to the police or the Gambling Commission for consideration for criminal investigation are:
# where the disciplinary powers of the BHA are so inadequate in an individual case that the evidence necessary to prove the charge cannot be obtained or the penalty would be ineffective;
# where the conduct disclosed to the BHA concerns substantial non-racing or non-betting matters of a serious nature;
# where a disciplinary panel, appeal board or the Board of the BHA recommends such a step at the conclusion of disciplinary proceeding."
It is worth also looking at points 8.16 and 8.18 in the 'Analysis' section, the 'Legal Analysis' that follows and point 8.26 in the 'Conclusion.'
As must be obvious by now, there are no real updates coming out other than that the hearing continues, nearly three hours in. The feeling is that the longer it goes on, the less the chances that a deferment of verdict is likely.
news by espncricinfo
