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Lex mitior 16:31 - Nov 13 with 3213 views

From the Telegraph's Ben Rumsby:

Ask Queens Park Rangers fans if they have heard of lex mitior and most would be forgiven for wondering how much the club were signing him for.

But although lex mitior is not the result of Harry Redknapp’s ‘wheeling and dealing’ in the transfer market, it may nevertheless emerge as an unlikely saviour for QPR before the end of the season.

Not in their battle against relegation from the Premier League, but in their fight to avoid paying the biggest Financial Fair Play fine ever levied.

Being hit by such a fine is a fate which surely awaits them if they comply with the Football League’s deadline of Dec 1 for submitting their accounts for last season, which are tipped to show losses in excess of £50 million.

Under the existing rules, that would see them face being docked in the region of £30â€‰million, even more than Manchester City are likely to end up paying for breaching Uefa’s FFP rules.

QPR’s chairman, Tony Fernandes, made it clear when they were promoted that the club would mount a legal challenge to such a swingeing penalty - although it was hard to envisage how that could possibly succeed.

That was until last week.

By the narrowest of margins, last Thursday saw Championship clubs vote to scrap the FFP rules QPR are being judged under and introduce new, more lenient, regulations from the start of the 2016-17 season.

Instead of being fined for losses in excess of £8 million during a given year, teams will be allowed to lose up to £39 million over three years.

And any side promoted to the Premier League can add another £22 million to that figure for every season they spend outside the Championship.

The Football League made it clear the changes would not apply retrospectively and therefore would not reduce any fine imposed on QPR.

However, this is where lex mitior comes in.

Literally meaning ‘mildest law’, the Latin legal expression describes the principle under which sanctions are applied when legislation is in the process of being altered.

In essence, lex mitior gives a defendant the right to be judged under whichever of the existing or upcoming laws is the most lenient.

This principle has already been applied in sport, one example being breaches of the World Anti-Doping Agency Code, where cases can be assessed under the 2015 version in certain circumstances.

And Inside Sport has learnt that QPR’s legal team is ready to argue that they, too, should benefit from lex mitior because last week’s changes to the Championship’s rules were effectively an acknowledgment that the existing regulations are not fit for purpose.

Whether that reflects the actual view of the majority of the teams who voted is another matter.

For, it is only two-and-half years ago that the same division agreed to introduce the current rules by a margin of 21 to three. Soon after that came the shock 70 per cent increase in the Premier League television deal - which widened the financial gulf between the two divisions - as well as the introduction of very different FFP regulations in the top flight.

The incompatibility of those with the Championship’s rules made the harmonisation of the two systems inevitable and, as with most negotiations involving the Premier League and Football League, it was the latter which was forced to back down.

Legal threats from the likes of QPR, as well as Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers - clubs who may also now seek to exploit lex mitior - cranked up the pressure. But it was the fear of losing Premier League solidarity payments which ultimately convinced enough Championship clubs to fall into line and unwittingly open the door for a Rangers reprieve.