The Senate's CCJ debates the legalisation of gambling

In the Legislative Chamber since August 2022, the text was due to be voted on in committee on 17 April, but the decision was postponed. The project repeals Decree-Law no. 9.125, signed in 1946 by the then President of the Republic Eurico Gaspar Dutra, which prohibited gambling.

In addition, the project amends provisions of three other laws relating to horse racing, penalties for those involved in gambling and the payment of bets. One of the objectives of the text is for the government to intervene in economic activity to prevent and combat the practice of crimes such as tax evasion, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

According to requests for a public hearing by senators Eduardo Girão (Novo-CE) and Carlos Viana (Podemos-MG), the debate on the project is necessary because ‘there is no consensus on this issue’ which has been on the agenda of the National Congress for many years and, although the rapporteur is in favour of the text, there are still many people who oppose the legalisation of gambling, considering that it would be an open door to ‘white-collar crime’ and the evasion of income from gambling profits.

According to the document signed by Girão, the release of the licence could also encourage crimes against property, such as theft and fraud, and also against sexual integrity, such as rape. In addition, the parliamentarian cites the impacts on Brazilian tourism and on the health of gambling addicts, who would be more easily ‘seduced’ by casinos and other gambling houses.

In the opinion of Senator Irajá (PSD-TO), the proposal meets the criteria for approval, since, according to the congressman, it is constitutional, legal and regulated. The senator points out that ‘the motivations normally used to oppose the liberalisation of gambling in Brazil’, which involve ‘alleged offence to morals and good customs’ and religious questions, ‘are not strong enough to oppose the regulation of the issue, since, as a general rule, no one can be deprived of rights in the country for reasons of religious belief or philosophical or political conviction’.

The rapporteur recalls that, according to Brazilian legislation, the economy should be governed by the principles of free enterprise and the valorisation of work and, therefore, the practice of such games, which constitutes a ‘relevant’ economic activity, should ‘pass under the control of the State, mitigating any link between gambling and organised crime’.

According to data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and the Legal Gambling Institute presented in the document, this illegal market generated between R$8.6 billion and R$18.9 billion in 2014. ‘Updating this amount to the inflation rate calculated by the Broad Consumer Price Index (IPCA) in the period, the gambling market would increase from R$14.34 billion to R$31.5 billion in 2023,’ the senator argues.

To make this measure of removing gambling from the ‘margins of state supervision’ a reality, the project establishes that the Ministry of Finance should regulate the operation of gambling and formulate a policy of supervision and control of the activity. It also proposes the creation of the National Gaming and Betting System (Sinaj), in which, in addition to the Ministry itself, accounting auditing companies, self-regulatory organisations of the gaming market, machine rental companies, tourist organisations and a regulatory agency created by the executive branch would participate.

Por Julia Camim