Online casino - LG Freiburg confirms ban on gambling on the Internet
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Even if the operators of online casinos would like to have it differently and beat the drum, Glücksspiel is banned on the Internet in Germany, with a few exceptions. For some players, this means luck in bad luck. "Since gambling on the Internet is illegal without express permission, players can claim their losses back," says lawyer István Cocron, CLLB Lawyers.
The overwhelming prohibition of online gambling on the Internet has been confirmed repeatedly by various courts, most recently by the Freiburg Regional Court. With a judgment of October 14, 2020, the court ruled that gambling on the Internet is prohibited (Ref .: 14 O 122/20). An agreement on stakes between the plaintiff and the operator of an online casino can be seen as an agreement on gambling. Since the State Treaty on Gambling regulates that online gambling is forbidden without a corresponding permit, apart from a few exceptions, such an agreement is ineffective, according to the LG Freiburg. "That means that the player can claim his bets back," explains lawyer Cocron.
Online-Casinos argumentieren gerne damit, dass dieses Verbot gegen europäisches Recht verstoße. Doch diesen Einwand wies das LG Freiburg zurück. Es räumte ein, dass die durch Art. 56 AEUV gewährleistete Dienstleistungsfreiheit von Glücksspielanbietern, die ihren Sitz außerhalb Deutschlands in einem Mitgliedsstaat der EU haben, durch die nationale Regelung eingeschränkt werde. Diese Regelung stehe aber im Einklang mit europäischem Recht, da sie u.a. dem Jugendschutz und der Bekämpfung der Spielsucht und ihrer Begleitkriminalität diene. Einem EU-Mitgliedsstaat stehe es grundsätzlich zu, das nationale Schutzniveau bei Glücksspiel selbst zu bestimmen.
The Higher Administrative Court of Berlin-Brandenburg had already decided in a similar way in August 2019 (Ref .: 1 N 46.18). It made it clear that the prohibition of gambling on the Internet regulated in Section 4 (4) of the State Treaty on Gambling does not violate either the German Basic Law or European law.
Since online gambling is illegal in most cases in Germany, players can reclaim their losses from the provider. “Banks and payment service providers can also be held liable. Because of the prohibition of participation, they should not have allowed payments to be made in online gambling, ”said lawyer Cocron.