Gambling

Gambling business has reached the Constitutional Court

The fight to overhaul gambling legislation is being waged on several fronts. While the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs is calling on officials not to force the gambling industry into “zones,” representatives of this business sector themselves have already reached the Constitutional Court. Vremya Novostey has at its disposal a copy of the complaint filed with the Constitutional Court by the Vegas company. This company, registered in St. Petersburg, organizes gambling not only in the northern capital, but also in several neighboring regions, including the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions, where gambling is prohibited by regional legislation. “Such activities are prohibited for everyone indiscriminately, even for those who have licenses. In our opinion, this was done illegally,” company representatives insist.

According to the law on gambling, until July 2009, that is, until casinos and other gaming establishments are transferred to specialized zones, these establishments can continue to operate, but only with the permission of local authorities. If there is no permission, then the regional “Monte Carlo” will have to be closed. According to Vegas lawyers, this provision of the law contradicts Article 55 of the Constitution, which prohibits the adoption of laws “abolishing or diminishing the rights and freedoms” of citizens. Lawyers insist that the company is engaged in the gambling business in accordance with a license issued in the prescribed manner.

“In practice, we often encounter decisive actions by regulatory and law enforcement agencies, which in fact turn out to be inconsistent with the law,” company official representative Marina Moiseeva told Vremya Novostey. -- Our complaints about illegal actions of law enforcement and regulatory authorities are often simply dismissed and not properly resolved. All this can be explained simply - it was decided that the gambling business is bad, the businessmen who conduct such activities are also bad, so there is no need to stand on ceremony with them.”

Now the "gamblers" are hoping for a higher authority - the Constitutional Court. True, it is not a fact that the application they submitted will become the subject of consideration by the judges. “The complaint was not only not accepted for consideration, moreover, no one has touched on it yet. It is being studied at the CC secretariat. The secretariat has two months to study the complaint,” CC spokeswoman Anna Malysheva explained to Vremya Novostey. If the application is found to comply with the law and if the applicants have applied to the address, then the complaint will be transferred directly to the judges.

Mikhail MOSHKIN