La European Court of Justice get back to dealing with online gambling. The Maltese Civil Court has in fact sent a request for an opinion to the Court on the merits of a case which sees a lawyer, representing a German player, against the online gaming company Lottocountry. It is an operator that offers online gaming services with a license issued by the Maltese Gaming Authority.
The player, as has already happened in many cases, asks the operator to return the sums played in consideration of the fact that this company does not have a German authorization.
Il Maltese Civil Court thus involving the Court of Justice which in the past had already expressed its position on gaming, leaving it up to the national judge to decide.
The Maltese court has referred several legal questions to the European Court of Justice for clarification on a player's refund claim against Lottoland .
After about six years of legal battles, the Court of Justice will finally deal with the German legal situation before the treaty of 2021 and the ban on online casinos and betting.
Although the Federal Administrative Court confirmed the illegality, the offers remained online throughout the network for years. Advertising also continued to feature in Germany, although the entire offering was deemed illegal and unregulated.
With the decision, a Maltese court of first instance submitted a referral to the European Court of Justice to clarify the legal situation in response to the refund request. The Court of Justice now has the final say. This should be certain within the following year at the latest.
The result is predictable, according to the German lawyers who are promoting the reimbursement lawsuits.
In its jurisprudence, the Court of Justice has always emphasized the discretion of the Member States and has flatly rejected the recognition of foreign licenses.
