The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), Malta’s gaming regulator, has strictly protected the hotly debated Bill 55, enacted by Maltese President George Vella in June this year, after being criticized by the latter “The change is incompatible with European law.”
The legislation does not conflict with European legislation
In its defense arguments, the MGA I announce this “Bill 55also known as Malta Gambling Act Section 56AIt does not violate European law but protects Maltese licensed operators from it legal responsibility arising from your gaming activities when the activity is covered by your MGA license.”
However, the MGA statement comes after Joint Gaming Authority of the States (GGL)Germany’s gaming regulator said the bill, now law, violated the Recast of the Brussels regulation, a 2013 European law that regulates the jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of court judgments between EU member states. To show that this is not the case, the MGA stressed a Section a 2013 European law that says so “A Member State may refuse to recognize a court judgment if it is not in accordance with the principles of its legal system.” In addition, the Malta Gaming Authority added “The intention of lawmakers in drafting the law was not create new exceptions not to regulate, but to enshrine in law Malta’s long-standing public policy in relation to the gambling sector.”
To show his support for the law, he also said: “The scope of Bill 55 is extremely restrictive. The law does not stop all legal action against a licensed Maltese gambling operator, but notes that the law sets certain conditions for doing so. However, he emphasized this “An operator could only be protected from a lawsuit if its gambling activities are restricted legal under the country’s gambling law and the lawsuit would have to conflict with or undermine the legality of the Maltese gambling framework for Bill 55 to come into force.”
Dispute over the legality of Maltese gambling laws
Regarding the legality of their gambling laws, the MGA found the same “His gambling laws are governed by that Rules for the free movement of services in Europe.” In this regard, he stated: “In turn, the Maltese gambling framework fully complies with EU law and is based on the freedoms afforded to a company established in the internal market.”
But when discussing this particular issue, European governments and regulators stressed “The Commission decision of 2017 Infringement procedures and complaints in the gambling sector to end.” In her opinion, this decision means just that “Gambling services cannot be considered a service that can be broadcast across Europe under an MGA license.”
The European Commission is examining Bill 55
The above-mentioned draft law 55 has already been criticized by some parties for violating European law. Therefore, in July of this year, the European Commission announced that he would conduct an investigation said bill to ensure that there was no breach of EU law and therefore requested additional information from the Maltese authorities.
However, once the above review is completed, there is a chance that the case will go to court EU Court of Justicebecause it has always been the one who takes the final decisions in disputes between national and European law.
Spring: “MGA defends controversial Bill 55 after criticism”iGaming Business IGB, 08/25/2023
