Hessen Ministry ordered to complete licencing process

The Administrative Court of Wiesbaden has made an interim ruling ordering the Hesse Ministry of Interior and Sport to finalise the 20 German sports betting licence awards within three months.

In May 2013, Hessian officials reportedly invited just 10 of the 149 applicants to participate in preliminary proceedings . In legal action led by BetVictor, the Wiesbaden Administrative Court ruled the process to be flawed and Hessian officials were ordered to include all applicants in the process or begin again.

The latest ruling follows legal action initiated by Oddset who requested the court award compensation following the award of a provisional licence by the Hesse officials and a heavy investment based on its expectation of going live in July 2013.

Although the Court denied Oddset’s claim for compensation it ruled that it would “take appropriate steps to ensure judicial protection for licence applicants” and acknowledged that the duration of the process was unreasonable and not justified pointing out that two of the seven years of the licence period had already passed.

The order which was handed down on December 20, 2013 gives the Ministry until March 20 to comply with the ruling.