The status of volunteers during sporting events

On the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, more than 45 volunteers are expected in the capital during the summer of 000. This is an opportunity to recall the status of sports volunteers, their legal definition and the conditions of taking responsibility.

What is the definition of a sports event volunteer?

There is no legal definition of volunteer. A fortiori, there is no legal definition of volunteering in sporting events either.

However, two examples of definitions can be noted:

The International Labor Organization (ILO) in 2012: “ Non-compulsory unpaid work; this is the time that people devote without pay to activities carried out either through an organization or directly for other people who do not belong to the volunteer's household. »

The Permanent Dictionary Sports Law, Volunteering and Sports Volunteering: “ The association volunteer is a natural person who, on their own initiative and voluntarily, decides to act in the interest of an association, to enable the latter to achieve the object for which it was formed ( v. J.-P. Boucheron, What is a volunteer? JA 2023, n° 237, in Dossier: Volunteering is the pivot of sport, p. 17) »

Volunteering is defined, on a legal level, mainly by comparison with salaried work, that is to say in relation to the employment contract: the volunteer does not receive remuneration, and he is not subject to any relationship of subordination .

His participation is voluntary.

Articles L. 321-1 et seq. of the Sports Code

What is the legal status of the volunteer?

The applicable law is unambiguous as to the situation of the person who intervenes within an association: if he receives remuneration in return for his work, then he is an employee.

It should be noted, however, that there are certain exceptions.

Indeed, volunteers who carry out a regular activity within the framework of the association's corporate purpose can benefit from meal vouchers or meal allowances with a maximum value of 7,10 euros since September 1, 2022.

It is also possible for a volunteer to receive gifts as part of their volunteer activity, up to a limit of 73 euros including tax per item and per year.

Finally, the volunteer can be reimbursed for travel, telephone or postage costs.

Concerning the question of the social system, the volunteer does not receive any remuneration, he does not have any social system.

As for the question of insurance, companies and sports federations must take out insurance guarantees for the exercise of their activity covering the civil liability of their volunteers (C. sport, art. L. 321-1 et seq.) .

Otherwise, " the fact, for the head of a sports association, of not taking out insurance guarantees under the conditions provided for in article L. 321-1 is punishable by 6 months of imprisonment and a fine of 7 € » (C. sport, art. L. 321-2).

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What is the liability regime for volunteers at sporting events?

Volunteers participating in the organization of sporting events do not have a particular liability regime. It is therefore appropriate to adhere to the common law liability regime.

It is therefore appropriate to address the issue under the prism of civil, but also criminal, liability.

In civil liability, the principle is the responsibility of the association which used the volunteer.

Thus, it was held that a volunteer, when he causes damage by providing assistance to the organizer of a sporting event, is not acting in a personal capacity but as an occasional employee. (CA Grenoble, 2nd ch. civ., June 11, 2019, n° 14/03023: JA 2019, n° 610, p. 12, obs. S. Zouag).

The Association can therefore exempt itself in 3 ways:

Force majeure;
The fault of the victim;
The fault of the volunteer.

It is nevertheless possible that there is a sharing of responsibility between the volunteer supervisor and the Association, which depends on the degree of autonomy of the volunteer in his action.

The more the volunteer himself is supervised in the execution of his service, the greater the liability of the Association from both a contractual and tort point of view.

Conversely, if the volunteer is barely supervised in carrying out his mission, then the Association's responsibility is less important.

On the other hand, when the damage was caused by the personal fault of the volunteer who acted on his own behalf and not on that of the association, he may be held liable.

In criminal matters, the volunteer may be liable for criminal offenses due to intentional and unintentional acts.

In practice, it is very rare for volunteers to be criminally convicted. For example, a volunteer in charge of a canyoning outing had not been criminally convicted, despite the fact that one of the participants died under his care. The trial judges condemned him because they considered that the volunteer could not have ignored the weather conditions and the rising water. The Court of Cassation had censored the judgment, it affirmed that it had not been demonstrated that the volunteer was aware of the danger (Cass. 2nd civ., March 3, 2016, no. 15-13.197).

In the vast majority of cases, it is the criminal liability of the Association which is sought.

Article 121-2 of the Penal Code provides that the liability of the legal entity may be incurred under the following conditions:

Responsibility must be of a special and not general character. This is the case with involuntary attacks on the life or integrity of the person;
The offense must be committed by the organs or representatives of the association;
These must have acted on the express behalf of the legal entity.

On the same theme, see the following articles:

The responsibility of football clubs for their supporters

[11.10.2021]

Football and provision of players for national selections in the French team

[02.07.2021]

The status of volunteers during sporting events

On the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, more than 45 volunteers are expected in the capital during the summer of 000. This is an opportunity to recall the status of sports volunteers, their legal definition and the conditions of taking responsibility.

What is the definition of a sports event volunteer?

What is the legal status of the volunteer?

Or book a video appointment online

What is the liability regime for volunteers at sporting events?

On the same theme, see the following articles:

The responsibility of football clubs for their supporters

Football and provision of players for national selections in the French team

Bertrand Cabinet

Cabinet BERTRAND & Partner - Paris, France)

DÉTAILS

CONTACT

FOCUS

The status of volunteers during sporting events

On the occasion of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, more than 45 volunteers are expected in the capital during the summer of 000. This is an opportunity to recall the status of sports volunteers, their legal definition and the conditions of taking responsibility.

What is the definition of a sports event volunteer?

What is the legal status of the volunteer?

Or book a video appointment online

What is the liability regime for volunteers at sporting events?

On the same theme, see the following articles:

The responsibility of football clubs for their supporters

Football and provision of players for national selections in the French team

Bertrand Cabinet

Cabinet BERTRAND & Partner - Paris, France)

DÉTAILS

CONTACT

FOCUS

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