Marques’ decision, released on Tuesday (25 March), follows a Claim of Non-Compliance with a Fundamental Precept (ADPF) from Brazil’s Solidarity party. This had called for municipal lotteries to be suspended until the STF ruled on whether they breach the constitution or not. The case is similar to an ongoing dispute between Lotterj and the government.
The Solidarity party alleged municipal lotteries were fostering a “truly chaotic scenario”, in which jurisdictions have circumvented federal Brazil betting regulations to allow companies not licensed by the federal government to operate within municipalities.
This, the Solidary party claims, is causing financial instability for the newly regulated federal betting market, while also risking the safety of players.
Marques has opted not to suspend municipal lottery operations, although he has called for the Solidarity party to provide further information backing up its claims within 10 days. He has also called for the attorney general’s office to weigh in on the matter, ahead of a final ruling.
“Given the relevance of the matter and its impact on the social order and legal certainty, it is necessary to provide the opinion of the authorities involved.”
He said this would influence his final judgment and ensure it is without prejudice.
STF to make final ruling on Brazil municipal lotteries
Municipal lottery operations will be allowed to continue until the STF makes a final ruling on their constitutionality.
Brazil has 26 states and over 5,500 municipalities, some of which are looking to implement their own laws to establish lotteries and generate regional revenue.
One particularly notable case is Bodó, a municipality which has a population of barely more than 2,000 and has issued numerous licences to operators.
Each municipal licence in Bodó costs just BRL5,000 (£670.29/€796.81/$867.70) to obtain, while a federal online betting licence fee is BRL30 million.
Bodó has consistently ignored threats from the federal government to halt licensing efforts and allow licensees to operate across Brazil.
A similar STF case relating to the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) has been ongoing for a few months. Various entities, including the federal government and attorney general, have insisted that Lotterj prohibits its licensees from operating outside of the state.
In its latest ruling on the case, in February, the STF voted to uphold a preliminary injunction, which banned Loterj from allowing its licensees to operate nationwide. It required Loterj operators to adopt geolocation blocking software to ensure players can’t access sites outside of the state.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/brazil-federal-court-municipal-lotteries/
