Online Casinos in Iceland

The Legal Position

Iceland has no licensing route for an online casino, and operating money gambling without specific statutory authority is not permitted. Iceland's Ministry of Justice sets out the starting point on its own page: "Happdrætti er einungis heimilt að starfrækja með leyfi sýslumanns og þarf tilgangur happdrættis að vera að afla fjár til almannaheilla hér á landi" - a lottery may be operated only with a district commissioner's licence, and its purpose must be to raise money for the public good in Iceland. Money gambling is treated more strictly still: "Um peningahappdrætti gilda sérreglur og ekki er heimilt að starfrækja þau nema með sérstakri lagaheimild." Special rules apply to money lotteries and they may not be operated except under specific statutory authority. The Ministry then extends that expressly to the internet: "Á það jafnframt við um happdrætti á netinu ef þau eru á annað borð peningahappdrætti og um fjárhættuspil" - the same applies to lotteries on the internet, if they are money lotteries at all, and to games of chance. Some minor lotteries are exempt from the licensing requirement by regulation - those held at annual functions and similar gatherings not open to the public, where prizes are drawn at the event itself, are low in value and are not cash prizes.

The Six Statutory Lotteries

The Ministry names the operators that do hold specific statutory authority: "Sex happdrætti starfa samkvæmt sérstakri lagaheimild" - six lotteries operate under specific statutory authority - listing Happdrætti Háskóla Íslands, Happdrætti Dvalarheimilis aldraðra sjómanna, Happdrætti Sambands íslenskra berkla- og brjóstholssjúklinga, Íslenskar getraunir, Íslensk getspá and Söfnunarkassar, together with the lottery councils that oversee them where applicable. None of the six is an online casino. Happdrætti Háskóla Íslands's own pages describe its Gullnáman and Gullregn slot products as machines installed at named play locations across the country rather than as an online offering.

Who Oversees Gambling

Iceland has no gambling regulator in the sense of a body that licenses and supervises online casino play. Responsibility for the policy area sits with the Ministry of Justice; licences for minor local lotteries and for public fundraising are issued by the district commissioner of South Iceland - "Sýslumaðurinn á Suðurlandi annast veitingu leyfa fyrir skyndihappdrættum" - and that office's remit is minor local lotteries, not online gambling. A standing committee on lottery matters also exists: "Einnig er starfandi fastanefnd á sviði happdrættismála", whose main task the Ministry describes as following developments in European law on lottery matters and making proposals to the minister on carrying out scientific research into gambling addiction, illegal gambling and legal reform in the field. The governing statute named by the Ministry is Lög um happdrætti, nr. 38/2005.

Responsible Gambling

Iceland's responsible-gambling website, Ábyrg spilun, is run jointly by two of the statutory operators - "HHÍ og Íslandsspil reka saman vefinn: www.abyrgspilun.is." - and carries information on the nature of gambling problems, self-tests for adults and for teenagers, and routes to help including SÁÁ. For contact it points to the Icelandic Red Cross service: "Ert þú með spurningar? Hjálparsími og netspjall 1717 er opið allan sólarhringinn." The Red Cross's own page for the service states that "Ekkert vandamál er of lítið eða stórt fyrir netspjall og hjálparsímann 1717. Þjónustan er alltaf opin og ókeypis, trúnaði og nafnleynd er heitið." - no problem is too small or too large, the service is always open and free, and confidentiality and anonymity are promised. It is a general helpline rather than a gambling-specific one. Happdrætti Háskóla Íslands states the age rule for its own products as "Óheimilt er samkvæmt lögum að selja veðleiki til viðskiptavina yngri en 18 ára" - it is prohibited by law to sell betting games to customers under 18 - and says its machine sites operate a minimum age of 18 and often 20.