Following a recent High Court loss of its legal challenge, the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) wants another judicial review of the point of consumption (POC) online gambling law in the UK claiming that it is against the European law and it is bad for the consumers.
The Association applied for a review of the tax plans of the Treasury after it reviewed the opinion of Mr. Justice Green and its judgment which caused the launch of a legal challenge against tax implications of the online gambling initiative of the UK Government.
The changes of the remote gambling rules were kept separate from the new tax plans. But the Association claims that if remote gambling operators don’t follow the new tax law rick having their license taken by the gaming commission.
Mr. Justice Green, on the other hand, said that the previous law established the founding principles of the European law and it doesn’t allow for freedom- restrictive measures between member states to be supported on purely economic grounds. He also added that the exact limits of what is and what is not a justification on economic grounds is not written in stone, but that a restrictive measure tailored to raise tax is an economic objective and “as such it is inadmissible as a justification”.
In conclusion, Mr. Justice Green said that the regulatory measures of the government are in proportion to the aims that are pursued and, as a result, rejected the original legal challenge of the GBGA. The new legal challenge of the Association will be partially based on the potential to encourage the black market.