Paulo Horn is a lawyer, member of the Special Law on Sports, Lottery and Entertainment Law of the Federal Council of the OAB; Former Chief Adviser of Legal Advisory and Vice President Director of the Rio de Janeiro State Lottery (Loterj) from 2007 to 2018. Master in City Law at UERJ, with a degree in Legal and Social Sciences from the Law Faculty of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - FND / UFRJ. Specialist in Consumer Law - School of the Judiciary of the State of Rio de Janeiro and in Constitutional, Administrative and Tax Law - UNESA. Member of the OAB / RJ Constitutional Law Commission and the Brazilian Lawyers Institute - IAB.
Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho: What is your view on the institutional effort to regulate money betting games managed by the private sector in Brazil?
Paulo Horn: The Judgment of ADPF 492 and 493, which declared the non-receipt of restrictive rules on lottery exploitation incompatible with the 1988 Constitution, reestablished the indispensable legal security to remove the pitiful authoritarian rubble imposed by Decree-Law 204/67, which it still compromised the lines of thought of important backward sectors that for years made the necessary development of lottery activity in Brazil unfeasible. The recognition of competitive equality by the preference of bettors between the Union and the other federated public entities, in the lottery exploration, undoubtedly reflects the first step towards the regulation of the sector as an important economic activity and reflects a new milestone to correct the direction of the policy public hitherto idealized in a monopolistic way.
Does your study “The Urban Culture of the Games of Fortune in the Cities” bring to light aspects that justify the regulation of all types of games in the country?
Undoubtedly, there is a need for regulation in the sector to attract new investments, generating jobs and income, considering that the best way to combat illegal gambling is through legalization, control and inspection. My Master's dissertation in City Law, presented to UERJ at the end of 2020, focuses exactly on gathering information and elements in order to deepen the knowledge about the urban culture of games of fortune in cities, the hitherto called “game of chance”, with relevant prominence throughout history, extracting, from its conceptual construction, the appropriate impartial name, such as “games of fortune”. With the approach of its legal nature, as an atypical public service or economic activity, exposing the legislative competence over games and sweepstakes and the edition of the Binding Summary nº 2.
In the study, we draw the distinction of the legitimating competence of the exploitation of the prognostication contests, as a source of social security and promotion resources, the absence of state monopoly and the prohibition of differentiated or antissonomic treatment, observing the competition law, in the perspective of economic activity , in the midst of questioning the old customs policy imposed by the Law of Penal Misdemeanors, including the ban on casinos that occurred in the mid-1940s, with an evolutionary examination of the legislation on sweepstakes and lotteries, in order to demonstrate the role of games of fortune in the economic and social promotion of cities as an indispensable entrepreneurial foundation for their development, in addition to the fallacy of monopoly or general prohibition of gambling in Brazil and the unavoidable loss of income and investments.
Does the World Game Economy Productive Chain promote games of chance or fortune? Scientific study needs exemption. Treating the activity as something lucky or unlucky attracts a matter of interest in favor or against its performance. Let's see, how to advertise gambling by attracting bettors with emphasis on CHANCE? Or from another position, assuring you that it is a LUCK activity? It is not about LUCK, nor about CHANCE, it is about the random. The word indicated is Fortune, they are games of fortune because they involve the possibility of huge gains or not. Fortune can be good fortune or bad fortune! To better understand the phenomenon, we immerse ourselves in mythology and even in the meaning of the Tarot cards. The Wheel of Fortune, which always depends on a second card that accompanies it.
Should the Law of Criminal Misdemeanors have its effects annulled? In light of the 1988 Constitution, did it lose strength?
The matter is under trial with a date set by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), with general repercussion. I risk saying that there are criminal types of a more serious nature that already fulfill the repressive role of the State in defense of society. What remains of the criminal offenses, with less offensive potential, in my humble opinion does not solve the problem of illegality, quite the contrary aggravates the situation and has already proved unable to solve the problem of illegality. I believe that the STF will judge the matter in a formal way.
Did the state monopoly inhibit free enterprise? In your study, how do you historically analyze gambling deals in cities?
We are evolving, albeit slowly. Only the mobilization of the sector will allow us to advance further. The first steps have already been taken.
Have lotteries historically contributed to the economic development of cities?
Historically, yes, not only in Brazil but in all countries that decided to choose to raise non-tax resources and apply the results to social causes, in a playful way, in which society always wins.
Is there a possibility of transparent business management and competent inspection by government agencies?
Without a doubt, we have many successful examples in various parts of the world, the biggest problem has always been prejudice and the hidden advantage of keeping gambling activity illegal.
Should part of the proceeds from the gambling business be directed towards strengthening the tourism or public health industries?
The Federal Constitution determines the application in social security, which is the responsibility of all, both the Government and social organizations and the private sector. I understand that it is up to each federated entity to decide the ways of applying the funds raised for the benefit of the population, according to public policies to be defined periodically.
Source: Luiz Carlos Prestes Filho – Executive diretor of Tribuna da Imprensa Livre newspaper
