ABSTRACT
Gambling Often viewed by the leaders of society as both offensive in itself and as productive of profligacy, corruption, vice and criminality, gambling tends to be restricted in various ways. Proscription by the criminal law of the conduct of gamblers themselves is largely a thing of the past; gambling (the generic term for betting, gaming, lotteries and prize competitions) is now a permissible and highly popular leisure pursuit. Structures in which gambling occurs are, on the other hand, subject to fairly intensive regulation to guard against over-dependency in clients, their ignorance as to the odds, and fraud on the part of promoters and others. The Royal Commission on Gambling (below) found ‘no evidence of any disturbing invasion now, by criminals into gambling’. They had no doubt that the existence of the Gaming Board set up under the Gaming Act (1968) was responsible for preventing the invasion, particularly at that time, of casinos by criminals and criminal syndicates. But ‘this is not to say that all those concerned can now relax their vigilance.’ The Royal Commission perceived that lotteries remained an area of continuing abuse, and legislation is now awaited.
