07/11/2008 Ladbrokes Appeal Court Decision in Norway

Ladbrokes, one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies, will appeal against the rejection of its betting licence application made by the Oslo City Court in October. The background for the court case was the authorities' decision to turn down the Ladbrokes' betting application in June 2004.
 
Ladbrokes' Managing Director, Remote Betting and Gaming John O'Reilly commented: “We are appealing the judgement because the court's assessment of the evidence doesn't relate directly to our case.  Vital aspects in the EFTA-law court judgment of May 2007 have not been taken into consideration, and the judgment is solely built on the national “slot machine case” of March 2007 which is not relevant to our application. The monopoly laws in Norway conflict with the EU Treaty, particularly with regard to the principles of freedom of establishment and the free movement of services.  We continue to challenge for our right to be regulated in Norway and to provide free and fair competition to the monopoly."
 
Jan Magne Juuhl-Langseth, the counsel for Ladbrokes in Norway, commented:  “Ladbrokes have decided to appeal, particularly because the City Court has not assessed the Norwegian monopoly in the light of the guidance given previously by the EFTA- court in Luxembourg.”
 
Lasse Dilschmann CEO Nordics added:  “Just because a monopoly is considered legitimate by the Norwegian state, doesn’t make it right. We  looking forward to see our case being tested in the Court of Appeal."