Regional Court of Bratislava Lifts 2017 Gambling Ban

Under the Court’s judgment which said that the ban wasn’t in accord with the legislation, gambling will once again be lawful from the capital of Slovakia.

Because of this, gambling venues in Bratislava wouldn’t be made to shut down and would have the ability to keep on operating from the city.

Ivo Nesrovnal, the Mayor of Bratislava, said that the Court’s judgment literally conquered the opinion of more than 135,000 citizens of Slovakia’s capital and all men and women who oppose gambling. As a response to the Regional Court’s decision, he said that the city is to take the legal thing to the Supreme Court.

Stillthe Regional Court in Bratislava didn’t make a judgment about the ban itself but along the manner by which the ban has been introduced by police. The decision for the gambling crackdown in Bratislava was made by the City Council at the second attempt at the end of March 2017 and came into force in May 2017. The current judgment of the Regional Court in Bratislava excludes the possibility of a new vote about the matter to be held.

Under the authority’s decision, the current gambling license holders have been permitted to keep on supplying its services before the expiration dates of the present licenses. The Slovak Gambling Operators Association compared the decision for the ban at the time when it was embraced and shared plans to challenge it in court.

As stated above, the ban on gambling operations in the city was embraced at the second attempt, as the first one which took place in February 2017 was unsuccessful. At the time of this first vote on the matter, which was initiated by a petition signed by about 130,000 taxpayers who took a gambling ban from the city, the step wasn’t backed by the essential amount of all Council members.

Then, a second vote took place on March 30th, 2017 to observe an absolute ban being imposed on gambling in Slovakia’s capital. The ban came into force at the beginning of May 2017, with 300 gambling centers across Bratislava being set to stop functioning by 2021 if the last gaming licenses are set to expire.

According to city officials, the ban would have lead to annual tax revenue declines of approximately €3 million for the funding of Slovakia. At the time when the gambling crackdown has been announced, the Mayor of this city explained that Bratislava would do whatever possible to minimize the losses which were anticipated to result in the ban.

Nowthe Association of Entertainment and Gambling (AZAH) commented on the Court’s judgment and said that in Bratislava there aren’t any sensible regulations centered on gambling regulation. However, the number of gambling places from the city declined as a result of a new regulatory rule which was deployed at the beginning of 2018. Under the regulation, certain restrictions on gambling were placed in Slovakia’therefore capital.