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Colombia’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, has confirmed the partial suspension of Resolution 20231000019054, issued by gambling regulator Coljuegos in 2023, which imposed limits and sanctions on online gaming advertising in the country.
According to Juan Camilo Carrasco, manager at law firm Sora Lawyers, which filed the annulment lawsuit against the measure, the partial suspension of the resolution became final after no appeal was filed within the legal deadline, thereby confirming the precautionary measure ordered by the Council of State.
“Partial suspension of Coljuegos’ Advertising Resolution confirmed. A great relief for the industry,” the lawyer commented on social media.
As previously reported by Yogonet, among the suspended provisions is Article 6 of the resolution, which established a cap on advertising expenses by limiting operators’ marketing investment to a 20% threshold tied to gross gaming revenue (GGR).
With the confirmation, Article 7 is also suspended, meaning operators will no longer be required to submit an annual advertising plan to Coljuegos or provide quarterly reports detailing contracts, invoices, and expenses.
Likewise, Article 9 (sections a, b, and c) suspends sanctions that allowed Coljuegos to refuse the renewal of a concession contract, impose fines equivalent to 1.5% of gross revenue, or unilaterally terminate contracts.
In turn, Article 10 (section f) removes the obligation to seek prior authorization from Coljuegos for certain share sale transactions involving concessionaires.
Grounds for the decision
Juan Camilo Carrasco stated that “beyond the outcome itself, it is worth sharing the three lines of argument adopted by the Council of State, because they go beyond the gaming sector and reinforce the country’s legal certainty.”
According to the lawyer, the suspension upholds, first, the principle of legal reserve in matters concerning economic freedoms (Article 333 of the Constitution), since a regulator cannot impose a quantitative limit on a lawful activity, as such a decision falls within the powers of the legislature.
It also upholds the principle of legal reserve in sanctioning matters (Article 29 of the Constitution), as the State’s punitive powers do not allow the creation of autonomous sanctioning regimes through resolutions.
In addition, the decision reinforces constitutional protection of commercial information (Article 15 of the Constitution and Ruling C-165 of 2019), since the State’s supervisory powers have limits when dealing with sensitive commercial information held by private parties.
It is worth noting that substantive issues remain pending and will be resolved by the Council of State in its final ruling.