Colombia Confirms Partial Suspension of Coljuegos Advertising Resolution
Colombia has confirmed the suspension of some provisions in Coljuegos‘ 2023 Advertising Resolution since there has been no appeal filed beyond the legal deadline. This happened due to a ruling by the Council of State in June, in which certain articles of Regulation 20231000019054 on the advertising activities of licensed online gambling operators were suspended.
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The legal action was initiated by the law firm Sora Lawyers, whose representatives stated that there had been violations of constitutional principles, including balanced regulation, economic freedom, and others. Since there was no appeal against the provision, it has become definite, although the case itself is still ongoing.
Sora Lawyers Celebrates the Result
Juan Camilo Carrasco, the managing partner of Sora Lawyers, confirmed the result of this process in a LinkedIn post, welcoming this for the regulated gambling industry.
“The partial suspension of Coljuegos’ Advertising Resolution has been confirmed. A great relief for the industry.” He also commented on the final nature of the decision.
“As no appeal was filed within the legal deadline, the Council of State declared the ruling that ordered the precautionary measure to be final, leaving the decision in force.”
Recalling the history of this legal action, he stated that it was started more than two years ago.
“A little over two years ago, together with Juan Carlos Calvo Ospina, we filed before the Council of State an action for annulment and a request for a provisional suspension against the Resolution that introduced a comprehensive advertising regime for online games of chance.”
Key Regulations Suspended
Due to the decision, the following obligations of operators are no longer valid. According to Article 6, the limitation of advertising and marketing expenses to 20% of the operator’s income has been suspended, as well as the special restrictions that were put on new licensed companies in the first years of their work.
According to Article 7, the obligation to present the annual advertising plan and quarterly report of advertising contracts, invoices, and other documents related to expenses of operators on advertisement is not effective anymore.
Also, the sanctions described in Article 9 allowing Coljuegos to refuse to renew the concession, apply a fine of 1.5% of gross income, or unilaterally end the concession agreement are no longer applicable.
Article 10 has been canceled, and now operators do not need to receive prior authorization from Coljuegos to sell their shares to the concessionaire.
Constitutional principles behind the decision
Along with announcing the decision and its impact on the regulations, Carrasco shared the main constitutional principles mentioned in the ruling, which can be useful for all businesses in Colombia.
“Reservation of law regarding economic freedoms (Article 333 of the Constitution): a regulator cannot impose a quantitative limit on a lawful activity; that decision belongs to the legislature.”
“Reservation of law regarding sanctions (Article 29 of the Constitution): the State’s power to punish does not allow autonomous sanctioning regimes to be created through administrative resolutions.”
“Constitutional protection of commercial information (Article 15 of the Constitution and Constitutional Court Judgment C-165 of 2019): the State’s supervisory powers have limits when dealing with sensitive commercial information held by private parties.”
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Source: SBC Noticias
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