Violence in Sport and the Role of the Criminal Law

Abstract

The aim of this study will critically evaluate where and when the criminal law should be used to regulate conduct between sports participants on the sports ground. In more recent years a quantifiable concern has arisen over the level and volume of violent incidents between participants taking part in Rugby Union. In this study there are five chapters, the first contains an introduction about what this study is about and what its main focus is to be. Second, will be a review of the literature surrounding these issues, together with a historical look at sport with insight into the change of amateur to professionalism followed by a look into the concept of the history of sport law and the nature of sport itself. The broader concepts of violence and negligence will then be reviewed, and then contracting this chapter will be a further review of the literature surrounding more specific elements that are significant to the findings of this study. Chapter three will examine two recent examples of case law involving cases of similar melees on the sports field. The discussion will involve extracting identifiable themes from these two case studies with specific look at the need for justice and the punishments sanctioned. The role and effect of the media and, without great exploration, the moral standards and concern that is generated when examining such a subject will be included in the fourth chapter, before concluding the study in the final chapter. This study involves an underlying notion of how sports-related violence should be understood by both the players involved and society. The findings reveal that specifically to sport, understanding the problematic concept of consent within the law will be of considerable influence when determining the punishments required and whether prosecutions should be initiated.