24Disputes between 2 or more persons

24 Disputes between 2 or more persons

(1) If: (a) a dispute arises between 2 or more persons bound by one or more constituent documents by which a sporting body is constituted or according to which a sporting body operates; and (b) either: (i) one or more of those documents permit the dispute to be heard in the General Division of the National Sports Tribunal; or (ii) if none of those documents permits the dispute to be heard in the General Division of the National Sports Tribunal—those persons agree in writing to refer the dispute to the General Division of the National Sports Tribunal; and (c) either: (i) the dispute is of a kind prescribed by the rules for the purposes of this subparagraph; or (ii) the dispute is approved by the CEO, in writing, as a dispute to which this section applies; the sporting body may apply to the National Sports Tribunal for arbitration of the dispute.

Note: See Division 7 for how applications are to be made.

Parties to arbitration (2) The parties to the arbitration are: (a) the 2 or more persons; and (b) the sporting body; and (c) any other person or body: (i) that is permitted by any of the constituent documents to participate in a hearing of a dispute of that kind; and (ii) that advises the National Sports Tribunal in writing that the person or body wishes to be a party to the arbitration. Arbitration to be conducted in General Division (3) The arbitration is to be conducted in the General Division of the National Sports Tribunal.

Note: See Divisions 4, 8 and 9 for rules about the arbitration.

Limits on CEO’s power (4) For the purposes of subparagraph (1)(c)(ii), the CEO must not approve a dispute of a kind prescribed by the rules for the purposes of this subsection. (5) The CEO may give an approval under subparagraph (1)(c)(ii) only if the CEO is satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances justifying the giving of the approval. (6) Without limiting subsection (5), exceptional circumstances for the purposes of that subsection include the following: (a) the CEO is satisfied that the dispute has been in existence for a protracted period of time, the parties to the dispute have made reasonable efforts to resolve the dispute and the dispute will not be resolved in the reasonably foreseeable future; (b) the outcome of the dispute may set a precedent for dealing with similar disputes that may arise in the future. Approval not a legislative instrument (7) An approval under subparagraph (1)(c)(ii) is not a legislative instrument.