Taylor, who chairs the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) Compliance Review Committee, will be joined by three other members on the Commission.

Austrian and German lawyers Dr Christian Dorda and Dr Anja Martin will sit on the Commission, along with a former biathlete nominated by the IBU Athletes' Committee.

The Commission have been tasked with providing and publishing a full report to the IBU Executive Board as soon as possible, without compromising the integrity of its conclusions and recommendations it is claimed.

The External Review Commission has largely come as a result of criminal investigations focused on doping, fraud and corruption against former President Anders Besseberg, from Norway, and secretary general Nicole Resch, who is German. 

This included allegations made by the WADA Intelligence and Investigations Department that the previous IBU President had covered up anti-doping rule violations by Russian biathletes, with the assistance of the then IBU Secretary General.

It was also alleged that delegates of IBU Member Federations at the 2016 IBU Congress had been bribed to vote in favour of the 2021 World Championships being held in Tyumen in Russia.

Besseberg and Resch both deny wrongdoing.

While criminal authorities in Austria and Norway are currently proceeding with their investigations, along with one by WADA, the External Review Commission will conduct their own investigation into the allegations.

The Austrian police report is not due to be published until January.

"We are proud to announce the appointment of such an expert and highly experienced Commission," Olle Dahlin, the IBU President, said.

"We have already made excellent progress in putting measures in place that will safeguard our sport and ensure the highest standards of good governance, integrity and transparency.

"We are on the right path; however, we recognise that we have an obligation to our athletes, our fans and all our stakeholders to properly investigate what happened in the past so we can learn from it and ensure it never happens again.

"We look forward to receiving the Commission’s report and its recommendations.

"In the meantime, we will continue to work hard to protect our athletes’ right to doping free sport, plan for our future and ensure integrity throughout biathlon."

The Commission will be mandated to conduct a full investigation into all anti-doping, compliance, ethical and disciplinary matters, as well as any matters arising from the ongoing investigation by WADA and various national and international criminal authorities.

This will include cooperating fully with all relevant authorities with jurisdiction over some or all of the matters in question.

The Commission will also advise the IBU whether any person or member or other body has a case to answer for breach of their obligations to the governing body.

A review the proposal of the IBU Constitution Working Group will also be carried out by the Commission.

They will recommend any amendments necessary to ensure the proposal reflects the highest standards of integrity and transparency, according to the IBU.

Drafting of a new constitution and strategic plan will take place over the coming months, with a view to the documents being approved an Extraordinary Congress next year.

The IBU claim the Commission is the latest effort being taken under the leadership of Dahlin to boost the organisation’s governance, following his election in September.

Along with the redrafting of the organisation’s constitution, the IBU has granted the chair of the Athletes' Committee a position on the Executive Board and adopted an amended Code of Ethics.

This includes a whistle-blower policy and the establishment of an independent Ethics Commission.

The IBU will provide the financial resources and any administrative resources required by the Commission to carry out its work, insist the Commission shall be entirely independent from the governing body.