German licence suspension appeal rejected
Bookmakers remain blocked from operating in the country after Higher Administrative Court of Hesse ruling
Sports betting operators remain locked out of the German online market after an appeal against the suspension of the Hessian Ministry of the Interior’s licensing procedure was rejected.
An appeal lodged with the state’s Higher Administrative Court sought to reverse an interim suspension on the procedure enacted by the Administrative Court of Wiesbaden following the submission of legal challenges from a number of unsuccessful licence applicants.
However the appeal was yesterday rejected by the court, meaning that operators who received a licence last month will remain unable to launch in the market until the legal challenges have been heard.
A rejection of the appeal had been widely anticipated and the legal challenges are expected to take several months to be resolved, delaying any opening of the market until at least Q1 2015.
Germany-based mybet, one of 20 firms to receive a licence from the Hessian Ministry of the Interior, said that despite the expected delays the licensing process “fundamentally remains intact”.
“We therefore look forward to a swift judgement by the courts, for the sake of finally establishing legal certainty,” Sven Ivo Brinck, CEO at mybet, said.
Germany’s sports betting licensing procedure has come under constant legal scrutiny since the Inter State Treaty was passed in 2012 and two criminal cases in Germany have seen questions referred to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) for guidance.
eGaming Review understands that the CJEU has now asked member states, the European Commission and the parties in the criminal proceedings to comment on the referral questions ahead of legal cases which are set to be heard early next year.