The Legislative Assembly (AL) yesterday unanimously voted to approve the new illegal gaming law.
The new bill, one of several new gaming industry-related laws approved in recent years, will criminalize some gaming-related activities, such as illegal currency exchange, and penalize all activities related to side and parallel betting.
Second Standing Committee AL president Chan Chak Mou said the new law unifies the treatment for the cases of illegal gambling activities, whether these occur inside or outside the casinos, something that did not happen in the previous law.
Crimes related to parallel betting and side betting are also specifically targeted in this new law.
The legislators also focused on online gaming activities, with Chan noting there was no significant change between the new law and the previous law.
But Chan noted the new law, taking into account developments in the industry, promotes legislative change in this area.
One of the big amendments to the final version from the government side was about illegal currency exchange for gambling, an activity now considered a crime whether it occurs in or out of the casinos.
Chan said the bill penalizes those who engage in such activities and not casino patrons.
Several new and stricter rules targeted money loans for gambling.
Almost all lawmakers approved the law’s final version without any discussion or debate.
Lawmaker Ron Lam, however, questioned the government on the new rules for the exploitation of lotteries, an activity that now carries a penalty of two years’ imprisonment.
Lam was concerned that, in Macau, several stores sell the Hong Kong Lottery – Mark 6, a taboo topic over many years and one Lam wanted to see finally resolved.
In response, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, André Cheong, said the law must apply to all forms of lotteries from abroad or some that potentially someone could create locally, noting the law targets the commercial exploitation of this activity and not cases when “a friend asks another friend to help him to buy a Mark 6.”
Lam was unconvinced and requested the article to be voted in separately.
The lawmaker wanted the government to make a clear decision and eliminate the sale of the Hong Kong Lottery in Macau to avoid people getting entangled in legal limbo.
Two other bills passed their final reading during the session: one about the “Electronization of the services of land and commercial registries and notaries” and another about amendments to the Civil Procedure Code for eviction orders and procedures.
Kou Hoi In warns of the herculean tasks ahead
The AL resumed its activities yesterday after the legislative holidays that took place from Aug. 15 to Oct. 15.
In the opening remarks, President Kou Hoi In warned lawmakers of the “complexity of the year ahead in legal workload.”
Kou said there are currently 15 bills for lawmakers to address, plus “an uncertain number of others the new government will potentially propose for review over this legislative year.”
Kou noted that 2025 is an AL election year, which means any bills not finalized within the AL term that ends August 15, 2025, will be dropped as, by law, there cannot be legal work and amendments moving across different terms.
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