Constitutional Court backs Daugavpils council in dispute with gambling industry
Latvia's Constitutional Court has allowed Daugavpils to push gambling halls out of the city centre and residential areas. The ruling changes the rules for all municipalities in the country.
Latvia's Constitutional Court, the country's highest body for constitutional matters, has settled a dispute of principle between the Daugavpils city council and the gambling business. The court allowed the city to push gambling halls out of the centre and residential neighbourhoods. The ruling matters beyond Daugavpils: it changes the rules for every municipality in the country.
What changes
Until now, courts more often sided with business. Today's verdict changes that practice, as the Constitutional Court backed the council's approach in this case. The headline's point is that this is a restriction, not a ban: gambling halls are not outlawed altogether, but where they may operate in a city can be limited.
Source
The ruling was discussed on the Russian-language LSM.lv programme «Обсудим вечером». Other details, such as the court's exact wording or the number of halls affected, are not given in the source material.
