The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) is to launch a second legal challenge against the UK Gambling Commission over its introduction of the new Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014.
As reported, the GBGA in August launched an initial legal challenge against the new regulations, but this was rejected by the UK High Court earlier this month.
In its earlier challenge, the GBGA said that the new regime, as well as the UK Gambling Commission’s guidance and policies, were “unlawful”.
The organisation accused the regime of being unlawful “because it is an illegitimate, disproportionate and discriminatory interference with the right to free movement of services guaranteed by Article 56 TFEU, and is irrational”.
Although the case was eventually rejected, the GBGA did succeed in delaying the implementation of the new regulations by one month.
The new Act was due to come into effect on October 1 but was put on hold until November 1 as a result of the GBGA’s appeal.
Despite the first challenge having been rejected, the GBGA has now filed a second lawsuit against the Commission and has taken a different approach to the case it outlined in the first challenge.
The GBGA in the first lawsuit said that the UK had no right to impose such a tax on offshore businesses in the European Union (EU), but will now instead focus on the Act breaching the EU’s law on free trade.
The lawsuit states that the new Point of Consumption tax “breaches Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in that it amounts to a restriction on the free movement of services”.
Related article: GBGA to launch new legal challenge over UK gambling law
