Northern Ireland Reforms Gambling Laws

Deirdre Hargey, Communities Minister for Northern Ireland, initiated a revision of the gambling regulation she recently announced. The first of the two proposed amendments to the existing law will be submitted for consideration within the next two weeks. The current law regulating the field of gambling and sports betting was adopted over 35 years ago, and many of its provisions are at the moment significantly outdated. As the world and technology evolves, many casino operators have moved their businesses to the Internet and provide their services through online platforms, and such activities are not included in the law issued before the spread of the world wide web. So, Northern Ireland has finally come to a point where it is crucial to make major changes to its gambling laws.

The creation of an independent gambling regulator in Northern Ireland is on the agenda, as a similar body in the UK has been in place for quite some time. Following a 2019 consultation by the Department for Communities, the initiative to create an independent regulator received majority support. Moreover, the current Assembly mandate will undergo two significant changes, the introduction of the first of which is planned in the near future. This is due to the fact that the current legislation is clearly not keeping pace with the development of technologies used by casino operators. Notably, the Department for Communities plans to loosen some of the existing restrictions on gambling. But on the other hand, legislators and the gambling industry must take decisive action to prevent, improve control, and more effectively combat gambling addiction. Here are some points of the new law:

• Increasing responsibility for providing access to gambling to persons under the age of majority;
• Establishment of a legislative fee for casino operators;
• Development and introduction of a mandatory set of rules that must be observed by companies providing services in the field of gambling;
• Defining the concept of cheating in gambling and increasing liability for cheating;
• Ensuring the legal force of contracts for the provision of gambling services;
• Removal of some of the existing restrictions on advertising campaigns carried out by gambling operators.

The first stage of amendments to gambling legislation will be carried out in the near future and will touch on 17 key aspects of doing business in the field of gambling entertainment. Since the second stage concerns the regulation of online gambling, its development and implementation will take significantly longer. As the existing legislation regarding gambling regulation in Northern Ireland is outdated and confusing, it will take a lot of effort to adapt it to the modern realities.