Thibault Verbiest - Lawyer
Gaming.EU Law
251 Boulevard Pereire
-
France
ULYS is an international Law Firm with offices in Belgium and France.
As a specialised Law Firm, ULYS develops itself around four poles which constitute a number of departments: Intellectual Property, Media & Entertainment (including gaming law), New Technologies & Computers (including telecommunication law) and Commercial law.
The integration of the two founding firms, and within those of the four departments, makes it possible to provide a global solution, within the niche activity, at the geographical level (Paris and Brussels) as well as at the intellectual level (inter-department co-operation).
In addition, ULYS is a member of the international network Eurojuris that links 700 firms in Europe and in the world, as well as the network "International Masters of Gaming Law" with IT law firms in the European Union, in Scandinavia and in Eastern Europe. Ulys is also member of the Information Technology Law Europe
France’s ministry of home affairs has authorised French casino operators to organise Texas Hold’em poker tournaments outside of their casino venues for the first time under a new decree signed just before Christmas. Poker games had been restricted to inside casinos under a law from 2007.
New draft legislation prepared by the Belgian Senate would allow the holders of terrestrial licences to apply for ‘licence+’ permissions to offer their services via the internet. The measures would also greatly enhance the power of the country’s Gaming Commission, and impose new limits on the number of licensed betting shops in the country.
France has decided to amend its legislation in order to allow European online gambling operators to offer their services in a regulated manner. This is a direct consequence of the infringement proceedings brought by the European Commission in June last year, of the ECJ rulings in Gambelli and Placanica, as well as of the landmark French Supreme Court decision in Zeturf.
As a result of judicial and legislative activism, gambling and gaming law is currently being overhauled by a draft bill which was expected to come into force in 2007.
Thibault Verbiest and Evelyn Heffermehl of ULYS analyse the EFTA Court's recent judgment on the case between Ladbrokes and the Norwegian government and place the decision within the broader context of European case law.
