BGP Litigation has successfully represented the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) in the arbitration proceedings on the appeal to annul the decision of the General Assembly of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to suspend the membership of the RPC in the organisation. The decision was issued by the IPC Appeals Tribunal on 11 May 2023.
 
The decision to suspend the RPC membership in the IPC was adopted on 16 November 2022 at an extraordinary meeting of the IPC General Assembly at the motion of the IPC Governing Board. In support of the decision, the IPC stated that the RPC had breached the membership obligations set out in the IPC Constitution.

As a result of the decision, all rights of the RPC as a member of the IPC were suspended, including the right to enter Russian Para-athletes in competitions organised by the IPC, including the Paralympic Games. 

The case concerning the RPC’s appeal against the IPC’s decision was heard by the IPC Appeals Tribunal, composed of three arbitrators, in an in-person hearing on 25 April 2023 in Dubai. Following the hearing, the Tribunal found the IPC decision unjustified and held that the evidence before the General Assembly was insufficient to conclude that the RPC had breached its membership obligations, and new evidence could not be considered by the Appeals Tribunal.

The Appeals Tribunal also noted that the assertion of the existence of a risk that membership obligations might be breached could not properly support the contention that a breach had occurred. 

The RPC was represented by the BGP Litigation Cross-border Disputes Practice: counsel Maxim Kuzmin and senior associate Eva Valter, assisted by associate Yulia Kryuchkova and paralegal Tatiana Kuziakina.