Although Taiwan has legalized public welfare lotteries and sports lotteries, and Article 10-2 of the Offshore Islands Development Act explicitly allows casinos in internationally styled tourist resorts on offshore islands approved by referendum,
there are currently no tourist casinos, and the regulations for tourist casinos are as follows:
Tourist casinos are limited to offshore islands: According to the 2008 amendment of the Offshore Islands Development Act, Article 10-2, tourist casinos can only be established on offshore islands that have passed a gambling referendum, and must follow the Singapore model, being part of an integrated resort.
Offshore gambling referendum results: From 2009 to 2017, a total of four gambling referendums were held (in Kinmen, Matsu, and Penghu). Only the 2012 referendum in Matsu was passed.
Legislative progress: In 2009, the Ministry of Transportation commissioned the drafting of the Tourist Casino Management Regulations. Although the draft was approved by the Executive Yuan in 2013, it is still pending review by the Legislative Yuan.
Thus, no real tourist casinos have been established in Taiwan to date.
On the main island, there is no specific law for the gambling industry, only the constraints of the Criminal Code on gambling, with the exception of sports lotteries and public welfare lotteries, all other gambling activities are illegal:
(Criminal Code 266) Those who gamble for money in public places or places accessible to the public shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars. However, this does not apply to temporary entertainment items used for gambling.
(Criminal Code 266) Gambling equipment and money at gambling tables or chip exchange counters shall be confiscated, regardless of whether they belong to the perpetrator or not.
(Criminal Code 268) Those who intend to profit by providing gambling venues or organizing group gambling shall be sentenced to no more than three years in prison and may also be fined not more than three thousand dollars.
The crime of profiting from gambling under Criminal Code 268 applies to online gambling operators!
"The crime of providing gambling venues under the Criminal Code does not require the venue to be accessible to the public; it suffices that there is a specific location where people can gamble, and it does not mean that there must be a specific space for people to go to.
Furthermore, considering the advancement of technology, telephones, faxes, and the internet can all be tools for transmitting gambling information. Thus, those who provide websites for gambling with the intent to profit are also considered to be providing gambling venues,
and the difference between personally attending to gamble and using fax or telephone to place bets is merely a difference in the method of action..." (Tainan Branch of the Taiwan High Court, 2011, No. 323 Criminal Judgment)
Therefore, we see that casinos often restrict membership and do not allow direct access to their pages, constituting non-public places that do not meet the provision of venues.
Additionally, Taiwan's Criminal Code only punishes crimes committed within the territory of the Republic of China; crimes in other countries are not within the jurisdiction of Taiwan's Criminal Code; however, if either the act or the result of the crime occurs within the territory of the Republic of China, it is considered a crime within the territory of the Republic of China. Relevant articles are as follows:
Criminal Code Article 3: This law applies to crimes committed within the territory of the Republic of China. Crimes committed on board ships or aircraft registered in the Republic of China outside its territory are treated as crimes committed within the territory of the Republic of China.
Criminal Code Article 4: A crime is considered to have been committed within the territory of the Republic of China if either the act or the result of the crime occurs within its territory.
This leads to an interesting topic;
Although online gambling abroad falls under the definition of gambling under our country's laws, is it subject to our Criminal Code?
Providing peripheral support services for online gambling abroad, is it prohibited by our laws?
Currently, Taiwan's Criminal Code does not explicitly regulate whether providing such peripheral support services is legal.
The Ministry of Justice explains: If neither the act nor the result of gambling occurs within our territory, then online gambling activities abroad are not subject to the Criminal Code.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs: It has been confirmed that several peripheral support services for online gambling abroad can legally register companies, and depending on their nature, there are eligible registered industry categories.
However, according to current judicial decisions, if online gambling meets the following four criteria, it is generally not considered gambling within the territory of the Republic of China, and is classified as "online gambling abroad":
1. No operations in Taiwan
2. No players in Taiwan
3. No operational servers in Taiwan
4. No money flow in Taiwan
(Note, this is based on current judicial decisions, whether future laws are amended or judges have different interpretations, the standards may change)
Since "online gambling abroad" is not considered a crime under the Criminal Code, providing peripheral support services for online gambling companies abroad can tentatively be said to not constitute "aiding and abetting a crime."
I must emphasize that this is the current situation, and in recent years, the scope of "aiding and abetting a crime" has been increasingly restricted by judicial decisions.
In the future, I will also discuss changes in online gambling regulations in recent years.
