Brazil’s Supreme Court again defers ruling on decriminalisation of land-based gambling
2026-08-08
Brazil’s Supreme Court again postponed its decision on whether the 1941 ban on land-based gambling is constitutional; a ruling striking it down would decriminalise casinos and bingo but leave them unregulated until Congress passes new legislation.
Brazil’s Supreme Court has once again postponed its judgment on whether land-based casino gambling and bingo can still be punished as criminal offences. Chief Justice Edson Fachin pulled Extraordinary Appeal 966,177 from the docket after Minister Flávio Dino asked for more time to review the matter.
The appeal stems from Rio Grande do Sul, where the Public Prosecutor’s Office is challenging a decision by the Appeals Panel of the Special Criminal Courts. That panel held that the gambling prohibition in the 1941 Criminal Offences Act was not incorporated into the 1988 Federal Constitution and that operating gambling is not a crime. Rapporteur Luiz Fux began presenting his opinion on Wednesday and resumed on Thursday, but the reading was cut short by the request for additional review.
Dino said the issue needed to be separated from the legislation covering fixed-odds betting. "If gambling is a misdemeanor, is betting also a misdemeanor?" he asked, arguing that the court must clarify the distinction between the two activities.
What a ruling would change
The court is not being asked to authorise casinos or bingo halls, only to decide whether the prohibition under the 1941 law remains compatible with the constitution. If a majority of justices find that it is not, land-based gambling would cease to be considered a criminal offence in Brazil. It would not, however, become a regulated activity: any legal operation would still depend on legislation passed by the National Congress and sanctioned by the government.
Lawyers following the case believe the justices have already concluded that the criminalisation is not grounded in the constitution, according to the reports. A favourable ruling would leave gambling "unregulated" rather than explicitly banned, forcing the government to pursue a regulatory framework and Congress to approve new laws.
Political and reputational pressure
The latest postponement may go beyond the court’s heavy workload. The Supreme Court has faced intense criticism from the media, parts of the political establishment and society, and deciding such a controversial case could add to that pressure. President Lula da Silva’s government, meanwhile, has said it will push to ban online casinos, even though online betting and casino games were legalised in January 2025 alongside licensed sports betting. The land-based gambling sector has long been blocked by opposition from evangelical lawmakers.
Fux, who has been rapporteur for years, acknowledged the case’s constitutional weight: "The issue submitted to this Federal Court for consideration is eminently constitutional, since the lower court dismissed the criminal nature of gambling on the basis of constitutional principles regarding free enterprise and fundamental freedoms."