Brazilian President Bolsonaro says casino legalization must be decided in Congress

The Humanist Party of Solidarity (PHS, by its acronym in Portuguese) submitted in January a constitutional action (ADPF 563) before the Supreme Federal Court (STF) with the purpose of repealing two decrees (one from 1941 and another from 1946) that prohibit gaming operations to individuals, and thus legalize the industry. The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, stated that it is the National Congress that must pronounce on this matter.

"Our counsel —from the Attorney General's Office of the Union (AGU, by its acronym in Portuguese)— stated his position, but it is not an imposition, whether it should stop being a minor infraction or not should be decided by the Chamber of Deputies and the Federal Senate," the President said on Thursday 25, during a live broadcast through his Facebook account.

The PHS claims that "allowing the private gaming operation does not cause offense to morals and good manners and is in perfect harmony with the legislation of most of the countries in the world. The prohibition finds no support and validity in the 1988 Constitution."

The Attorney General's Office of the Union, represented by the lawyer André Mendonça, delivered a statement Wednesday to the STF opposed to the PHS, where he stated that "the practice of gambling raises multiple socially harmful implications." On Thursday, sitting next to Jair Bolsonaro, he reinforced his position: "The game of chance is a gateway for money laundering, illicit activities, concealment of assets, and it generates vice, we can not accept that gaming is legal and that's what we are against."

Now the STF must define whether the minor offense for the operation of games of chance, which is included in the Law since 1941, goes against the precepts of the Brazilian Constitution of 1988.