62020CO0508_INF
Order of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 26 April 2022 – Landespolizeidirektion Steiermark and Others (Slot machines II)
(Case C‑508/20) (
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)
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Article 99 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice – Freedom to provide services – Article 56 TFEU – Games of chance – Provision of prohibited lotteries – Penalties – Proportionality – Minimal fines – Overlapping – Lack of a cap – Alternative custodial sentence – Proportional contribution to procedural costs – Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Article 49(3))
1.
Freedom to provide services – Restrictions – Games of chance – National legislation imposing penalties for breach of a gambling monopoly – Assessment of the legality of the penalties by the national court – Assessment of the compatibility of these penalties with the freedom to provide services – Scope
(Art. 56 TFEU)
(see paras 20-22, 24-26, operative part 1)
2.
Freedom to provide services – Restrictions – Games of chance – Provision of prohibited lotteries – Penalties – Minimal fines and alternative custodial sentences imposed by unauthorised slot machine – Accumulation of fines and penalties – Lack of a cap – Proportional contribution to procedural costs – Whether permissible – Conditions – Observance of the principle of proportionality – Respect for the right of access to the courts
(Art. 56 TFEU; Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Arts 47 and 49(3))
(see paras 30-38, 40-42, 44-47, operative part 2)
Operative part
1.
Article 56 TFEU must be interpreted as meaning that, in proceedings relating to the imposition of penalties for breach of a monopoly in the field of games of chance, the national court, referred with the assessment of the legality of a penalty imposed for such a breach, must specifically assess the compatibility with Article 56 TFEU of the penalties provided for by the applicable legislation, having regard to the concrete methods for determining them.
2.
Article 56 TFEU must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation providing imperatively that, where prohibited lotteries are made available for commercial purposes:
–
the imposition of a minimum fine per unauthorised slot machine, without a ceiling on the total amount of the fines imposed, provided that the total amount of the fines imposed is not disproportionate to the economic advantage that the penalized infringements may provide;
–
the imposition of an alternative custodial sentence by unauthorised slot machine without a ceiling on the total duration of the alternative custodial sentences imposed, provided that the duration of the alternative custodial sentence actually imposed is not excessive in view of the seriousness of the infringements observed, and
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a contribution to the costs of the proceedings amounting to 10% of the fines imposed, provided that that contribution is not excessive in relation to the real cost of such proceedings or does not infringe the right of access to the courts enshrined in the Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
(
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)	OJ C 433, 14.12.2020.