A SERIOUS CONSEQUENCE (Update)
13 February 2009
The French may have bitten off more than they can
comfortably chew with online gambling arrests
When the French gambling monopolies initiated warrants
of arrest against online gambling executives Petter
Nylander of Unibet and Didier Dewyn of Mr. Bookmaker
back in 2007 (see previous InfoPowa reports) they
triggered serious consequences that could come back to
bite them....hard.
This week the case took a positive turn for online
gambling when the Internet companies were successful in
obtaining access to the European Union's key Reasoned
Opinion on the incompatibility of French law supporting
state gambling monopolies with the European Union
requirements for free and open trade between member
states.
It's been a tough and strongly opposed fight leading to
the Court of Appeal of Versailles ordering access to the
Reasoned Opinion and the hearing of the Secretary
General for European Affairs, Gilles Briatta.
Access to the Reasoned Opinion, previously refused by
the instructing judge, had been requested by the
defendant Internet companies for months as a key piece
of evidence. This confidential document lists all the
violations of EU law that the European Commission holds
against the French gambling legislation, in particular
with regard to the Française de Jeux and PMUs monopolies
on online sports and horse betting.
The ruling dates back to criminal proceedings in 2007
initiated by the French against Petter Nylander, CEO of
the online gaming company Unibet, listed on the
Stockholm Stock Exchange and holding licences in Italy,
Malta and the UK, and Didier Dewyn, former CEO of Mr
Bookmaker.
By deferring its judgement and allowing the litigants to
have access to the Reasoned Opinion addressed by the
European Commission to France on June 27, 2007, and
seeking to hear for the first time in this case a high
civil servant, Gilles Briatta, the Court of Appeal
reaffirmed the doubts surrounding the compatibility of
the French gaming legislation with European Law, says
the European Gambling and Betting Association in
commenting on the ruling. The Association counts most of
Europe's major online gambling companies among its
members.
EGBA welcomed the decisions as an important development
in the cases against Nylander, Dewyn and other European
CEOs, who have been subject to arrests - including the
use of a European Arrest Warrant executed by the Dutch
in detaining Nylander at the time - and indictments.
Sigrid Ligné, Secretary-General of EGBA, said: “These
decisions raise once more the fundamental question of
the legal base of these criminal proceedings. The
infringements the European Commission listed in its
Reasoned Opinion against the French Law shall also allow
it to evaluate the compliance of the forthcoming draft
bill with European law.”
The decisions follow the judgement of the Court of
Appeal of Versailles dated January 18, 2008 in the
proceedings engaged against Didier Dewyn, which
requested additional information regarding the
compliance of the French Law with EU Law and in
particular access to the Reasoned Opinion addressed by
the European Commission to France.
EGBA recalls that doubts regarding the French
legislation’s compliance with European law have not only
been voiced by the European Commission, but have also
been confirmed by the Court of Cassation on July 10,
2007; by the State Council on May 9, 2008 and finally by
the French Government itself in the context of the more
recently announced reform of the gambling law.
To maintain an indictment based on the alleged
infringement of such legislation would imply accepting
the concept of preventive indictment, which is
impossible under French law.
The EGBA recalls that these decisions come at a time
when the European Commission has been waiting for 21
months for a new French bill which is expected to put an
end to the multiple infringements of EU law and in
particular to the “criminal sanctions [that] have been
threatened or imposed on the chief executives of sport
betting companies licensed in other Member States”. If
the draft bill is not formally notified to the European
Commission services in the shortest timeframe possible,
the European Commission may move to the contentious
stage of the infringement proceedings and refer the
matter to the European Court of Justice.
Online Casino News Courtesy of
Infopowa
More news here.
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