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Table of Contents - June 2012 - Volume 12, Issue 02  

Sports Law

A Mare's Nest? The Jockey Club and Judicial Review of Sports Governing Bodies

Jonathan Morgan

Abstract

In this article Jonathan Morgan reveals how the tradition of self-regulation in British sport has raised difficult questions for lawyers. On what basis can the decisions of governing bodies – which are clearly not organs of the state – be challenged? The Jockey Club was a regular subject of legal challenges from the mid 20th Century. An analysis of those cases illuminates the wider debate concerning the basis and extent of judicial review in English law.

Keywords

  • sports law;
  • judicial review;
  • The Jockey Club

Dr Jonathan Morgan is currently Fellow and Tutor in Law at St Catherine's College, Oxford. From October 2012 he will be University Lecturer in Tort Law, University of Cambridge. He has written widely on tort, contract and human rights. His book entitled, Great Debates: Contract Law is being published by Palgrave Macmillan (forthcoming, 2012).