The July–August issue of the Bulletin of the Ukrainian National Bar Association features an article by Juris Ferrum’s Managing Partner Gnizdovska Ganna, titled:
“Certain Specifics of Protecting the Rights of Professional Athletes in Disputes Concerning Violations of Anti-Doping Rules.”
Anti-doping disputes always involve a delicate balance between law, medicine, evidence, and human factors. Intuition or “common sense” simply do not work here — only strict standards, international protocols, and formalised procedures. That is why a lawyer handling such a case must be well-versed in sports law, procedural safeguards, toxicology, laboratory practices, and WADA documentation.
A brief overview of what the article covers:
🔹 What doping means in the legal sense
It covers far more than a prohibited substance — including evading testing, tampering with procedures, assisting violations, and failing to provide whereabouts information, in accordance with the WADA Code.
🔹 How the anti-doping system operates in Ukraine
The article explains the roles of the National Anti-Doping Center (NADC), the Disciplinary and Appeal anti-doping Commissions, the Therapeutic Use Exemption Committee, as well as the significance of CAS as the primary international tribunal shaping global jurisprudence.
🔹 The principle of Strict Liability
An athlete is responsible for the presence of a prohibited substance regardless of intent — a principle consistently upheld in CAS jurisprudence.
🔹 Procedural safeguards for athletes
The article outlines the allocation of the burden of proof between the anti-doping organization and the athlete, and the applicable standards of proof in anti-doping cases.
🔹 A practical algorithm for defence
Checking ISTI/ISL compliance, analysing the laboratory documentation package, assessing TUE issues, identifying the source of the substance, consulting medical experts, forming a position on fault or negligence, and deciding whether to request the opening of the B sample.
Juris Ferrum congratulates Ganna on the publication and is proud of our team’s continued contribution to the development of sports law in Ukraine 💙⚖️