Northern Ireland father and son involved in £7million gaming machine racket were running 'illicit casino' Pair avoid jail after judge hears from defence counsel belfastlive.

The law in Northern Ireland dictates that, unlike Britain and the Republic, bookies can't open on Sundays, which is a prime betting day for sporting events and therefore betting. That has led to.
Gambling in Ireland vs Gambling in the UK. Despite its size, Ireland is a formidable gambling market. According to the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA), several thousand people are currently employed in the betting industry at land-based bookmakers. Plus, there are an estimated 1,000 people employed at online gambling operators.

Gambling reform is in the spotlight right across the UK.

The laws in Northern Ireland have varied from Great Britain for some time.

In Great Britain, the Gambling Act 2005 was introduced to bring together disparate historic gambling laws. The Act ushered in a more liberal and permissive approach, but also gave birth to the Gambling Commission.

However, the Gambling Act 2005 did not encompass Northern Ireland and the gambling laws in Northern Ireland remained unchanged. The rules in Northern Ireland have been disconnected from the rest of the UK ever since, and, significantly, the Gambling Commission's remit does not extend to Northern Ireland.

The Department for Communities carried out a consultation on gambling laws between last December 2019 and February 2020. The consultation received around 382 responses, with the majority being from interested individuals, and a quarter being from organisations.

Is gambling illegal in northern ireland 2020

Some of the main headlines are that there appears to be 'strong support' for the creation of an independent gambling regulator (or gambling commission) for Northern Ireland. In fact, around 90% of respondents supported the establishment of such a body.

If you read my recent article about the origins of the Gambling Act and the latest trends in GB, you might be surprised to learn that the majority of respondents in Northern Ireland (around 60%) wanted to see the law being reformed to allow casinos to operate in Northern Ireland, where they are currently illegal.

An even bigger majority (66%) also wanted to see bookmakers and betting shops being allowed to open on a Sunday.

Is Gambling Illegal In Northern Ireland Now

Almost all respondents (97%) agreed that the industry should contribute to 'funding research, education and treatment' for those with gambling addictions.

The Communities Minister is expected to make an announcement on the detailed findings and proposed 'next steps' in the coming weeks.

It is not clear whether and to what extent these steps will tie in to the reforms to gambling laws which are expected in Great Britain.

Stormont will obviously have an eye to developments in the Republic of Ireland and in Great Britain. With the Brexit transition period coming to an end on 31 December 2020, the UK government might see it as an opportunity to try to harmonise gambling laws across the UK - but that might be overly ambitious if reforms are to be expedited on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Is gambling illegal in northern ireland right now

Gambling updates

Finally, if you're interested in other gambling related posts from the team at Lewis Silkin, you can find more of them here.

'A number of questions have been posed throughout this paper on a range of issues. It will fall to the next administration to make final decisions on gambling reform and promote the necessary legislation.' - Dept for Communities

The recent news that County Down GAA club Mayobridge GAC had to cancel their raffle for a new house should be of concern to many GAA clubs and other sporting or community organisations who regularly hold these types of draws as much needed fundraisers.

It has been reported that the draw was cancelled following a small number of complaints to the police, who subsequently advised the organisers that their raffle may be in breach of our gambling legislation and they could be liable to criminal convictions if they continued with it.

At present, gambling in Northern Ireland (other than the National Lottery) is regulated by the Betting, Gaming, Lotteries and Amusements (NI) Order 1985 (“the 1985 Order”) as amended by the Betting and Lotteries (NI) Order 1994. The 1985 Order is itself based on old GB law from the 1960s which has subsequently been repealed and replaced by the Gambling Act 2005. Northern Ireland is yet to follow suit with its own updated version and with the doors of Stormont closed, no changes will be made anytime soon. The current laws have been described as complex, framed in antiquated style which makes it difficult to understand, and may not address the changing world of gambling.

Under our current legislation, it is unlawful to conduct in Northern Ireland any competition which offers prizes, where success does not depend to a substantial degree on the exercise of skill. There are certain strict exemptions to this and all prize draws or lotteries are illegal unless they are;

1.Small lotteries at exempt entertainments (e.g. a fete, bazaar, gala dinner, sporting event or similar event)

2.Private lotteries (where the sale of tickets or chances in confined to members of a society (not established for gaming purposes) or to people who either live or work in the same premises)

3.Societies’ lotteries (a lottery promoted by a society established for charitable, sporting, cultural etc purpose) but subject to very strict conditions.

The typical lottery or raffle organised by numerous groups across the country does not comply with any of the above exceptions and in reality, if groups did strictly comply with the legislation, they would never raise the level of money they aim to achieve with these draws.

Is Gambling Illegal In Northern Ireland Right Now

You may ask why this draw in particular has been stopped when so many others have passed without issue over the years? I suspect that without any complaints being raised, police have no reason to look into such draws (or no interest) and it is only because complaints have been raised in this case that they have been duty-bound to investigate and have advised the organisers to cancel it to avoid risking prosecution.

Gambling Laws In Northern Ireland

The fact is that our gambling laws are outdated and simply do not cater for the many ideas and types of raffle, draw or event that are now quite prevalent. While all organisers should be aware of the restrictions in the legislation and the possibility of breaking the law, I imagine we have not yet seen the last of the knock on door by the volunteer ticket seller.