Brazil May Hear Betting Ban and Lottery Cases Together

Edson Fachin, president of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), indicated on November 4 that the related gambling cases could be heard together. The move followed a request by Justice Flávio Dino for a joint decision during a hearing on municipal lotteries. The package will bring together the scope of online betting, municipal lotteries and the general gambling law. Justice Luiz Fux also joined this approach.

There are four cases against the law authorizing betting and four against the betting ban. Fux said he needs more time to prepare an opinion covering objections to both the earlier regulatory framework and the later ban. Dino, for his part, is ready to revive the broader gambling case, which has been pending since his review request in August.

Interim Measure 1394, published on September 25, prohibits the offering, operation, intermediation and advertising of fixed-odds betting, whether physical or online. The ban covers sports events and virtual online games, and applies to foreign providers targeting Brazil. Existing permits will expire 30 days after publication, and no new permits will be granted. The text is not a general gambling ban, and other legal lottery types are exempted.

The municipal lottery debate stems from the interim measure Justice Nunes Marques issued in December 2025 in the case the Solidariedade party brought against municipal lottery laws. At the hearing, Isadora Cartaxo, general secretary of the Attorney General's Office case team, argued that municipalities have no authority to run lotteries. According to the government, the national betting ban reinforces illegality.

The National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gambling (IBJR) requested assistance in the existing constitutional cases on the previous betting regime while the new ban is in force. They want the whole ban suspended or, failing that, a regulation covering only licensed operators, or a longer transition period. In its October 5 filing, the government argued that the ban protects public health and families, and pointed to shortcomings in the previous regime.

Fux is the rapporteur of the broader case on whether the 1941 law criminalizing gambling survived the 1988 Constitution. That case concerns the general gambling ban, not the recently introduced fixed-odds betting regime. The municipal lottery case is narrower and asks who can authorize and operate lotteries at the local level. The measure halted municipal lottery operations. The full court will decide whether to uphold this injunction.