A Langlois Lawyer Chairs the Laboratory Disciplinary Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency

The international sport community relies on the expertise and professionalism of Yann Bernard, a partner at Langlois Lawyers, the only Canadian ever to be named chair (on a rotation basis) of the Disciplinary Committee created by the International Standard for Laboratories (ISL). 

The members of the Disciplinary Committee are two lawyers and a scientist, and it is chaired by one of the two lawyers. 

The ISL is intended to ensure laboratory production of valid test results and evidentiary data and to achieve uniform and harmonized results from all accredited laboratories. 

When a laboratory is found to be at fault, either because its results are erroneous or its methods are non-compliant, this jeopardizes the credibility and security of the global anti-doping system. The laboratory can accordingly be summoned to appear before a disciplinary committee, which makes recommendations to either the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, recommending a suspension of the laboratory’s accreditation, or to WADA’s executive committee, recommending that its accreditation be revoked.