Middleton J Dismisses the Applications
Essendon Football Club v Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority; James Albert Hird v Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority [2014] FCA 1019
On 19 September 2014, Federal Court Justice Middleton dismissed the EFC and Hird applications for a declaration that “ the investigation conducted by ASADA … which was referred to as part of “Operation Cobia” … was ultra vires “, and injunctions restraining ASADA from issuing any notice or relying on information obtained in the investigation, and a permanent injunction restraining ASADA from using any information from the investigation for any purpose under its Act. The joint investigation was, according to ASADA, was part of a wider investigation by ASADA under the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Act 2006 (Cth) (‘the Act’) and Sch 1 (‘the NAD Scheme’) of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Regulations 2006 (Cth) (‘the Regulations’). EFC and Hird said that ASADA had no power to conduct the investigation in the way it was conducted (involving the use by ASADA of AFL “compulsory powers” and unauthorised disclosure of information), that the investigation was undertaken for improper purposes, and that ASADA breached its confidentiality obligations during the course of the investigation and in the provision to the AFL of an interim report.
See attached file titled “Middleton J Dismisses the Applications” for full analysis.