ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the policy context, the newly revised World AntiDoping Code (WADC), which became effective in January 2009. It highlights the tension between legal and ethical postures arising from the WADC, and offers some, albeit critical, justification for their application in the broader contexts of sports' doping legislation, which may affect athletes and physicians alike. Concerning doping, therefore, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the WADC enjoy a hegemonic position with respect to medical, policy, scientific, as well as juridical matters. The chapter describes the dual legal economy between sports anti-doping rules and criminal law. It discusses the three ethic-legal dimensions of doping prosecution deserve critical scrutiny: notions of guilt, negligence and liability; aspects of punishment; and privacy. The chapter argues that the doping offences ought not to be considered an exception to the general ethical norm of demonstrating culpability.
