This publication is to be considered as a practical commentary. The online water sports commentary is aimed at legal representatives of water sports associations or water sports fans and is intended as a reference work for practitioners. The commentary contains the articles written by lawyers who are interested in water sports and who want to examine their sport from a legal point of view. Water sports, unlike commercialized sports such as football, basketball, etc., have received little attention. However, essential legal questions arise in criminal and civil law as well as in public law.
With Editions Weblaw, a "dynamic" online commentary is to be created, which is equivalent to a publication platform: On the one hand, new authors with contributions about water sports, which have not yet been covered, should be able to join at any time. On the other hand, in case of changes in law or practice, the authors should be able to react immediately and publish the new version of their contribution without having to wait for the publication of a consolidated second edition. It is not intended to publish a print version; the project intends to operate exclusively in the digital space.
The general part (1) serves as a basis for the further legal analyses. Hereunder, public law issues concerning water regimes and basically the central regulatory norms as well as environmental law in connection with Swiss national waters will be dealt with. The question regarding "sustainability in water sports" is also addressed with a guest contribution.
In the special part (2) are presented the individual water sports. The various water sports are analyzed in the first part from the point of view of inland waters and focus on the insurance obligation, the liability in case of damage related to the sport as well as the relationship with the cantonal authorities of navigation. The papers of about 5 to 15 pages are basically all structured in the same way and examine the questions around the authorization according to the inland waterways law and ordinance; possibly the relationship to nature conservation; liability law; criminal law and finally specific questions in connection with the individual water sports.
The contributions on the individual water sports are grouped as follows: 1. boats with motorized propulsion (motorboat, jet ski, wakeboard are included here under motorboat); 2. boats with paddle propulsion (canoe, kayak, rafting, etc.); 3. boats with sail propulsion (sailboat); 4. Boards - also referred to as ships - with sail propulsion (windsurf or kitesurf, wingfoil, etc.); 5. Boards with paddle propulsion (stand up paddle [SUP]); 6. Other equipment (bungee surfing; Aare Böötle, Pumpfoil); and 7. hors catégorie (scuba diving, apnoea diving, and sport fishing).
I would like to thank all the authors for their valuable contribution. They have taken up this collective challenge and contributed to the success of this pioneering work with their personal commitment and considerable time. I also thank Editions Weblaw, in particular Mr. Philip Hanke, for the competent supervision of this commentary volume. My sincere thanks also go to the peer reviewers for proofreading the contributions and for the quality assurance that this entailed.
Finally, special thanks go to the Faculty of Law of the University of Zurich for its generous financial support.
Zurich, May 2022
Anne Mirjam Schneuwly