Kuwait's Constitutional Court Approves Constitutionality of Restricting Jurisdiction to Sports Disputes in Arbitrators

In a judgment issued on December 13, 2023, the Kuwaiti Constitutional Court considered that there is nothing contrary to the Constitution in limiting jurisdiction to sports disputes in the hands of arbitrators. Thus, the Kuwaiti Constitutional Court took a different view from what was decided by the constitutional judiciary in other countries such as Turkey(1), where it was necessary to amend the constitution to establish such a solution, or the decision of the Premier Président of the Tunisian Administrative Court made in 2015 (the FTF elections case) where he held that the existence of an arbitration clause was not sufficient to withdraw jurisdiction from the administrative judge, to whom the Constitution assigned a block of jurisdiction (bloc de competence) in admirative matters, including with regard to the management of all public services (including sport).

(1) Article 59 of the Turkish Constitution (Second paragraph, added on March 17, 2011; Act No. 6214):

"The decisions of sport federations relating to administration and discipline of sportive activities may be challenged only through compulsory arbitration. The decisions of Board of Arbitration are final and shall not be appealed to any judicial authority".