DR. SARAFI reaches termination of an investigation into illegal gambling advertising against well-known streamers
From our press archive. This communication gives the status of the original publication of 23 June 2024 again. Subsequent developments in the process are not automatically taken into account.
Bavaria, June 23, 2024 — Groundbreaking success in criminal gambling law: Public Prosecutor's Office of Bavaria discontinues proceedings under Section 170 (2) StPO without conditions. DR. SARAFI lawyers are convincing: Streaming slots is not criminal advertising.
Background: Hundreds of criminal complaints filed by GGL
The Joint Gaming Authority of the Länder (GGL) has filed hundreds of criminal complaints with the public prosecutor against people who — including from abroad — are associated with gaming providers without a German license. We represent and defend a wide range of accused persons in such proceedings.
Our clients also include (well-known) streamers who show themselves playing virtual slot games (“slots”) and stream them live.
GGL's legal opinion
In the opinion of GGL, this constitutes criminal advertising for illicit gambling in accordance with Section 284 (4) StGB, as there is an advertising effect in Germany.
Our divergent legal opinion
We take a different view and do not see it as criminal liability. According to the Constitution, the term advertising under criminal law must not be adopted arbitrarily simply because you think that something is an advertisement.
After years of experience and intensive review of numerous investigative files, we have found that public prosecutors often do not take into account special features of gambling criminal law. This includes questions such as:
- The applicability of German criminal law
- Whether criminal law is superseded by the primacy of EU law
- Whether the facts — in an objective and subjective way — have been fulfilled at all
These aspects are gladly accepted by the public prosecutor's office and in almost all investigative files that we have had access to. A closer look, however, shows that this is not the case.
Successful persuasion
In an intensive and complex process, we were able to convince the public prosecutor in Bavaria that the streaming was not advertising.
The group leader of the public prosecutor's office has personally dedicated himself to the proceedings and has ultimately fully agreed with our legal opinion.
Termination of proceedings without conditions
The investigation against the streamer was discontinued by the public prosecutor's office on June 18, 2024 in accordance with Section 170 (2) StPO without payment of money or other conditions.
The client therefore has no criminal record nor has he suffered any disadvantages.
Specialization is key
The peculiarities of criminal gambling law are often not recognized by ordinary defense lawyers and public prosecutors and require special expertise, which we can offer through our many years of practical and in-depth scientific expertise in this area.
Meaning for other streamers
This decision has far-reaching significance for the streamer community. It shows that:
- Streaming activities are not automatically qualified as criminal advertising
- A differentiated legal analysis is necessary
- Specialized defense can lead to successful process closures
- The blanket assumption of criminal liability by GGL is legally vulnerable
conclusion
This case underlines the importance of specialized and well-founded defense in criminal gambling law. Thanks to our consistent legal arguments and expertise, we were able to achieve a complete termination of proceedings without any conditions.
DR. SARAFI lawyers have extensive experience in defending streamers and content creators in criminal gaming proceedings and can look back on numerous successful cases.