Online Casinos with a Gibraltar License

Basic info on the Gibraltar Casino License

Questionably one of the major regulatory bodies that has its tentacles spread across a range of areas such as Information Rights, Communications, Postal Services, Radio Communications, Satellite Coordination, Broadcasting, Higher Education, and Cyber Security, the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority is the outcome of The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority Act, 2000 that was passed by the HM Government of Gibraltar and later on amended in 2013.

Background

Having enshrined the principles of integrity, professionalism, fairness, and competence, the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, as it states in its official website, “provides operators, service providers, businesses and organizations with detailed guidance” regarding the specificities of their responsibilities, thus eliminating problems that can potentially harm their operations.

This statutory body of the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority functions with absolute independence vested in it by the legislation cited above with the explicit aim of upholding the interests of citizens as well as consumers by way of advocating competition and innovation. This it does by defining rules and regulations in accordance with Gibraltar and EU legislation and installing them across the vast spectrum of its purview.

As determined by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority Act 200, the platform is headed by Paul Canessa, GRA’s Chief Executive Officer as well as the Chairman of the body, John Paul Rodriguez, the deputy chief executive officer, and three other appointed members. Segregated into several divisions each of which takes care of the above-mentioned industries that fall under GRA’s auspices, the divisions implement their own structure and are run by corresponding heads. As a whole, what the GRA mainly promotes is data privacy, the right to information, and all the subsidiary concerns that these projects include, including but not limited to the pursuance of competition in areas such as e-Communications, broadcasting, and the postal sector.

Communications

Manifesting the communications act 2006 on the ground, the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority takes up the task of regulating the eCommunications sector as the said act makes it the sole national supervisory and regulatory authority over the telecommunication sector in Gibraltar. By issuing blanket authorizations and licenses, the body ensures a panoply of options opens up to businesses and residential customers when it comes to electronic communication services within the national boundaries of Gibraltar. As a corollary to this operation, GRA also sets the framework within which fixed-line telephony, internet access/broadband/mobile voice/data services have to function.

This is a territory that is replete with challenges mainly because of the fast pace at which it functions at the European and International levels. Further compelling is the GRA’s push for connecting the local service and network providers with the International scene, thus making it possible for remote markets to make inroads into the Gibraltar jurisdiction. Spurred on by these factors, the body upholds streamlined approaches by sifting through issues of law, technology, and economics when dealing with industry and consumer complaints keeping in mind all the while that their arbitration oozes the principle of fairness and transparency so that all the parties involved can reap benefits from it, accepts the bad elements.   

Data Protection

One of the core concerns that fall within the ambit of the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority is data protection. And the main beacon light in that direction is The Data Protection Act 2004, popularly known as DPA. It is this legislation along with the Gibraltar General Data Protection Regulation that arms the GRA with the permission to act as the information commissioner. The role entails acting as the independent statutory body in Gibraltar that strictly enforces the existing modern data protection laws of the land upon organizations that include both public bodies and businesses.

Prior to the existence of the DPA along with the Gibraltar General Data Protection Regulation (Gibraltar GDPR), there remained the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 which regulated data protection law within Gibraltar. This operation ran from 25^th May 2018 till 31^st December 2020. With the exit of the UK and subsequently of Gibraltar from the European bloc and the end of the Brexit transition period (1^st January 2021), the EU GDPR got overtaken by the Gibraltar GDPR which came into effect from 1^st January 2021.  

Broadcasting

The Broadcasting Act 2012 empowers the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority to regulate media service providers that operate under the Gibraltar jurisdiction. Although the duties and responsibilities here are variegated, one can still begin understanding them by underlining the GRA’s role as the issuer and enforcer of licenses to radio and TV broadcasters, launching investigations against complaints about licensed broadcasters, looking after a vast array of regulatory matters including maintaining broadcasting standards, underscoring codes of practice, launching media literacy programs, disclosing information and last but not least, advising consumers and broadcasters alike.

Repealing the Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation Act which exempted radio and television broadcasters from a licensing program up till 2012, The Broadcasting Act 2012 installed instead a licensing regime that it deemed is absolutely necessary for the modern parlance. In view of this Act, the GRA inaugurated a new Broadcasting Division within its own structure to take up the above-mentioned tasks. 

Postal Services

Another area that is fraught with constant challenges and that the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority has welcomed into its orbit is the postal services sector as the Postal Office Act makes it the sector’s primary arbiter. By granting and enforcing licenses and authorizations, it stays true to its objective of pushing for development in the local sector by guiding and boosting competition and in the same vein making available an affordable universal postal service that is also competitive to all users in Gibraltar. In that capacity, the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority closely monitors whether the performance of the designated universal service provider meets the established standards and whether it is interested in keeping up to date with its general operational framework.

The pre-existing post office act 1961 in Gibraltar underwent an overhaul as it interspersed the Directive 97/67/EC into the Gibraltar law, thus liberalizing the postal services market for good. Coupled with the Postal Services (Authorisation) Regulations 2012, the opening up of the market significantly changed the entrenched dynamics that ruled it up to this point as contenders now had to reconcile with the newly created compliance protocols to stay afloat in the overtly competitive environment.  

Cyber Security

From 10^th May 2018, the GRA also ensures a secure environment for network and information systems run by essential services operators. This it does under the purview of the Civil Contingency Act 2007, which enables it to take care of the security concerns of network and information systems that are working in Gibraltar in a centralized manner. The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority therefore supervises, enforces, and regulates compliance issues by going about amassing information about operators of essential services, by taking fitting actions in case of breaches, by issuing guidance, by laying down Codes of Practices, by keeping track of incident notifications and diligently reporting them and by carrying out routine inspections.

The Cyber Security Compliance Division of the GRA also works in tandem with the HMGoG’s Information Technology and Logistics Department (ITLD) which plays the role of being the national computer security incident response team for Gibraltar (the Gibraltar CSIRT).

Advocacy of the Freedom of Information

By making the principles of integrity, professionalism, fairness, and competence its hallowed mottos, the very existence of the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority is a reminder of the supreme importance of the availability of information in upholding this ethical framework because it is only when information is accessible, scrutiny will be possible resulting in businesses practicing uprightness in a totally professional manner within an all-encompassing competent ecosystem.

The Freedom of Information Act 2018 had this in mind when it came into being and made available information secured by public authorities to the common public. Emboldened by the act, the public now enjoys the right to request information as the authorities are encouraged to publish information in an earnest manner, saving situations where certain information can have detrimental effects if brought to public knowledge.

The GRA plays a pivotal role in this context as it acts as the regulatory authority in all matters that touch upon the issue of the freedom of information just as it obliges entities by offering reliable advisory service.

The Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2005

Another example of fairness and integrity in the public sphere is the existence of the robust act of 2005 which goes by the name The Freedom of Access to Information on the Environment Regulations. All praise to the legislation seems justified when one considers the legitimate ubiquity of the environment as a discursive category dominating the general public consensus on matters that are otherwise as diverse in their concerns as they can be. And further, one can’t help but notice the relatively early response that the incumbent government of Gibraltar gave to the issue, in 2005 when environmental degradation or climate change was still a footnote in ensconced people’s drawing-room discussions.

Derivative of the European Law, specifically the European Council Directive 2003/4/EC that had as its theme public access to environmental information, the 2005 Gibraltar regulations confer power over the GRA to decide the terms and conditions pertaining to this segment of public and political deliberation and see to it that the terms and conditions are being paid heed to.

Environmental information that is now at the doorstep of the general public as a result of the said regulation includes information on the states of the elements (water, soil, land), factors impacting those elements (noise, radiation, water), and various activities and measures that can and do potentially affect these elements and factors. Moreover, the enquirer can now also have reports and analyses at his fingertips that deal with all of the subject matters that are connected in one way or another to the environment along with state findings on human health and safety.

• Higher Education

However outlandish it may sound, the fact is the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority also functions as the Gibraltar Authority for Standards in Higher Education in accordance with the University of Gibraltar (Regulation and Accountability) Regulations 2008. Also, the University of Gibraltar Act 2015 had the injunction that the GRA works as the Gibraltar Higher Education Commission, a role the statutory body embodies.

As the name fairly demonstrates, the GRA in the avatar of the Gibraltar Authority for Standards in Higher Education imposes and safeguards standards in academia. In the same breath, it maintains quality assurance vis-à-vis the University of Gibraltar’s multifarious academic programs. As the Gibraltar Higher Education Commission, the GRA obligates the University that it doesn’t stray from the duties and obligations as laid down by the university regulations while also ensuring that the university enjoys its share of autonomy and academic freedom that has been granted to it by the said regulations.

• Regulatory Cooperation

This section of the GRA’s site details the Memorandums of Understanding and different other documents that are relevant in drawing up the understandings reached between the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority and other such entities and the corresponding responsibilities those agreements confer upon the parties. Thus what one has here is the Memorandum of Understanding between the Information Commissioner and the Commissioner of the Royal Gibraltar Police which clearly delineates the shared ground between the two separate entities, adding much tooth and claw to the arbitrations of the GRA in real terms. Also listed are the Memorandum of Understandings between the GRA on the one hand and the Institute of Transparency, Public Information Access and Personal Data Protection of the State of Mexico and its municipalities, the Gambling Commissioner and the Gibraltar Port Authority on the other hand.    

Concluding Remarks on Gibraltar Casino License

Deflecting accusations of centralization of power, the GRA advocates decentralization within its own ranks as it is made up of separate Divisions undertaking separate types of endeavors under the guidance of separate Heads. The ubiquity that the GRA enjoys, even if it warrants accusation of centralization, promotes the ease of doing business by presenting itself as the single point of contact in all the departments it deals with. Viewed thus, the GRA turns out to be the indispensable regulatory entity that stops complex market structures from becoming a quagmire of ill-interests.