Top court gives municipalities right to curb gambling

Czech municipalities have been given greater powers in regulating gambling on their premises. On Thursday the country’s Constitutional Court struck down legislation that prevented town and city halls from banning lottery video terminals on their premises until the end of 2014. The judges said that the provision, which protected terminals licensed by the Finance Ministry, contradicted communities’ right to self-administration. Jan Richter spoke to Vladan Brož from the anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International about the court’s ruling.

Photo: Barbora Kmentová

“I think this is a message to the Czech Finance Ministry that they should abide by the law. We have long had the same opinion that the Constitutional Court expressed yesterday – that municipalities have the right to ban gambling in their communities. But the Finance Ministry has been saying that they did not have that right. So it’s a message for the ministry.”

Do you think this will really curb gambling in the Czech Republic? Do you think that most Czech municipalities will in fact ban these terminals?

“Well, that will now depend on each municipality but the important thing is that they now have the opportunity to do so. They had the right even before but the ministry was not willing to respect it. So there might not be massive regulation on the part of towns and cities but the important thing is that now, the Finance Ministry must respect the decision.”

Vladan Brož, photo: Transparency International

Some lottery operators say the decision by the Constitutional Court will lead to an increase of illegal gambling and online gambling. Is that a serious concern, in your opinion?

“I think this is hysteria from the gambling industry. Look, we are Europe’s gambling haven, and of course, it’s obvious that the industry is sounding the alarm because they are probably going to lose money. But gambling is not just any kind of business; it has a serious negative social impact. So the ruling will decrease the profits for the gambling business but I don’t think we will see illegal gambling bars opening because we still have a huge number of legal gambling venues.”