GB licensing regime set for court showdown
Gambling Commission and Department for Culture Media and Sport served with legal proceedings over "unlawful" Gambling Bill by GBGA as licensing row heats up
The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association’s attempts to prevent Great Britain from adopting a Point of Consumption (PoC) regulatory model look set to be decided by the courts after the industry body filed for a judicial review of the proposed regime late last week, eGaming Review can reveal.
The Gambling Commission and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Sajid Javid, have both been served with legal proceedings and a hearing to decide the framework’s fate is likely to take place in October or November.
The move comes after the GBGA wrote to both the Commission and the DCMS in June to demand they review the planned framework or face legal action and, with no review forthcoming, the GBGA has now made good on its threat with a legal team comprising law firm Olswang and barristers Blackstone Chambers.
According to the official legal document, seen by eGR, the GBGA has asked that the courts declare the new licensing regime “unlawful”, “disproportionate” and a “restriction on the freedom to provide services” as guaranteed by Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
“The New Licensing Regime is discriminatory in that it applies the licensing and regulatory requirements uniformly on operators around the world regardless of their local legal and regulatory regimes,” the document read.
The GBGA also argued that “no risk of consumer harm has been identified to justify the restrictions contained within the new licensing regime”, that the regime would “damage the interest of consumers”, and that the objectives of the regime won’t be met due to the Gambling Commission’s inability to enforce the measures.
“It will be impossible [for the Gambling Commission] to gather information as to an overseas licensee’s behaviour (absent complaints) and impossible effectively to investigate such complaints when they are made,” the document read.
In addition, the industry body has also requested that the decision of DCMS ministers and/or the Gambling Commission to refuse to adopt the GBGA’s proposed ‘passporting’ proposal be declared “irrational”.
“[“¦] no sensible decision maker who applied his mind to the question, in particular one who was apprised of the most effective and proportionate Passporting Proposal, could have decided not to adopt a passporting approach,” the document read.
The new PoC regulatory regime, which will require Great Britain-facing operators and suppliers to have a Gambling Commission licence, is set to go live on 1 October with operators given until 16 September to submit their licence applications.
According to the Gambling Commission, the new regime will ensure greater protection for consumers while it will also enable the regulator to effectively police the 85% of the market it has estimated to be in the hands of offshore operators.
The Gambling Commission and GBGA had yet to respond to a request for comment at time of publication.
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