Court case on gambling restrictions within Riga administrative territory initiated in Constitutional Court
A case has been initiated before the Constitutional Court based on application by SIA Olympic Casino Latvia regarding the compliance of Section 6.8 of the Riga Spatial Plan Area Use and Construction Regulations, approved by Riga City Council Binding Regulations No 103 ‘Binding regulations for the use of and construction within the territory of Riga of 15 December 2021, with the first, second, and third sentences of Article 105 of the Constitution.
The contested provision states that it is prohibited to organise gambling and to provide the corresponding gambling services in casinos, gambling and bingo parlours, as well as betting shops across the entire administrative territory of Riga, except for such gambling venues that are located in four or five-star hotels.
The type of business of the plaintiff in the case is the organising of gambling activities. According to the plaintiff, the contested provision denies it the right to conduct its business in Riga. Thus, the contested provision infringes on the plaintiff’s property rights and is incompatible with the first, second, and third sentences of Article 105 of the Constitution.
In initiating the case, the Constitutional Court ruled to request Riga City Council, which had issued the contested regulations, to submit a letter of reply explaining the circumstances of the matter and the corresponding legal grounds.
The deadline for the preparation of the case is 30 October 2023. The Court will decide on the procedure and date for hearing the case once the case is prepared.
The decision on initiation of the case in Latvian is available here.
Linked case: 2023-27-03