Online Casino Regulation Adopted by Jersey (UK)

Online Casino Conditions Staff
June 19, 2006

The Channel Island of Jersey - a sovereign state of the UK (British Crown dependency) - is now the latest legalized online gambling jurisdiction, and the second of the Channel Islands to pass legislation legalizing online casino gambling.  Following in the footsteps of sister island, Alderney, Jersey has taken the vital steps of forming a three person Gambling Commission, and must only wait for the final draft of the legislation to be completed.

The process will take at least one-and-a-half years, but when it does, will make Jersey a viable option for online casino operators looking to settle down, perhaps considering regulation by the UK government itself.  The UK Gambling Act will be in effect before that time, and will assuredly continue to feed the willingness of other governments to begin regulating online gambling as well.

Jersey began considering the idea as far back as 2000, shortly after Alderney became an online casino jurisdiction.  However, debate lagged on for nearly two years until the Jersey Gambling Control Committee eventually requested the Jersey government to have a full review of the then-current gambling legislation which had not been updated since 1964.  After two commissioned research projects reported their findings to the government, it became apparent that Jersey needed to modernize its legislation to the tune of UK gambling laws.

Nearly two years later, Jersey had legalized online casino gambling, and was well on its way of becoming an industry regulator.  Despite the fact that several legislative provisions that would have allowed for commercial bingo and full-service casinos did not pass, the online industry is being looked upon very favorably, not to mention a great opportunity to reap substantial revenue in online casino licenses.

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