Arbitration process set as Hearts and Partick Thistle meet the SPFL again

Independent legal panel ready to hear Scottish football dispute
Hearts and Partick Thistle are ready to take on the SPFL again.Hearts and Partick Thistle are ready to take on the SPFL again.
Hearts and Partick Thistle are ready to take on the SPFL again.

With an independent hearing into the Hearts/Partick Thistle case against the Scottish Professional Football League expected to start next week, panellists are being finalised.

The matter proceeds through the Scottish Football Association's independent arbitration process after referral from the Court of Session - although no SFA official will be involved in the tribunal.

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The association supplied a list of former legal experts from which the three panel members have been selected. They all boast years of experience in adjudicating, although perhaps not on Scottish football clubs taking on the entire league body.

Hearts and Partick are determined to pursue what they feel is justice and get all relegations from last season overturned. In doing so, they would deny Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers promotion. If the motion fails, Hearts want £8million in compensation and Thistle £2m.

Lord Alistair Clark QC agreed there is a case to answer over how the SPFL ended the 2019/20 campaign prematurely when coronavirus struck. He decreed, however, that a court of law was not the place and called for an independent tribunal as per SFA rules.

The process now becomes completely private and top-secret rather than played out in an open - albeit virtual - court in front of the public. Hearts and Partick picked one member of the panel from the list, the SPFL and the promoted clubs another, and the two people selected have identified a third member to chair proceedings.

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Three arbitrators allows for a majority decision in the end. The same legal teams will remain in place from the preliminary court hearing last week. Hearts and Thistle are represented by Gilson Gray, with Shepherd and Wedderburn acting for the SPFL and Lindsays for the three promoted clubs.

The arbitration is also likely to be conducted virtually due to restrictions over indoor meetings during the pandemic. Had the case been taken on by the Court of Session, the provisional start date was Tuesday, July 14, and all concerned are eager to get business underway this week.

There will be a preliminary discussion on an informal basis to begin with, but how formal or otherwise the procedure becomes is at the discretion of the tribunal chair. No-one from the SFA has any say in the matter unless they are asked for guidance or assistance.

There will be submissions from both legal teams and key individuals could be called to attend to give evidence. These include the SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster and the Dundee CEO John Nelms. The Tayside club's part in the controversial vote and allegations surrounding it are central to the Hearts/Partick claim of impropriety.

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Both clubs argue vehemently that SPFL rules were changed in order to end the season early via a vote by all 42 clubs. Their original court petition asked for documents relating to the vote to be recovered, which Lord Clark granted. They will now be handed to the three independent arbitrators.

Moving the dispute to arbitration is supposed to speed up the process but there is no guarantee of a timescale. Those with experience of such matters expect it to last several days at least. The Court of Session hearing was estimated to last a couple of hours and went on for three days due to lengthy submissions from lawyers.

The final outcome is impossible to predict but, as Hearts and Partick will be aware, there is an option to challenge it either way. An arbitration ruling can be challenged under Scottish law.

The dispute is unlikely to return to the Court of Session unless the independent panel somehow found itself unable to reach a verdict. At the end of his ruling last week, Lord Clark said: “If, for any reason, difficulties arise with whether the arbitration tribunal is able to deal with the issues in the time available and the parties change their minds and wish the court to deal with, time will be made available for that to happen.”

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Time, of course, is of the essence. The Scottish Premiership has been given Government permission to kick-off on August 1. If Hearts succeed with this appeal, they will become part of that league and a new fixture list will need to be drawn at breakneck speed. There is not a second to waste.

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