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An extended panel of judges of the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania (SACL) is examining an administrative case concerning a dispute in which a company organising gambling activities has been found by an order of the Director of the Gambling Supervision Authority to be in breach of a provision of the Gambling Act prohibiting the promotion of participation in gambling activities, due to information published on its website.

Since the Gambling Act had previously contained a prohibition on the promotion of gambling, but was worded differently, the Chamber of Extended Judges hearing the case had doubts as to whether such an amendment (clarification) of a national regulation, which had not been notified in accordance with the procedure laid down in Directive 2015/1535 to the European Commission, had the effect of exempting a company organising games from the application of that prohibition to a company organising games of chance. In such circumstances, the extended Chamber of Judges of the Supreme Administrative Court decided to refer the following questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling:

1) Whether a national provision such as that laid down in Article 10(19) of the Gambling Act, in so far as it relates to the information on gambling published on the website of a gambling organiser, constitutes a "technical regulation" within the meaning of Article 1(1)(f) of Directive 2015/1535;
2) Is Directive 2015/1535 to be interpreted as meaning that a provision of national legislation, such as the Gambling Act, the provisions of which must be notified pursuant to Article 5(1) of Directive 2015/1535 in cases in which they are to be regarded as 'technical regulations' within the meaning of Article 1(1)(f) of that directive, may not be relied on against operators in proceedings for the imposition of administrative liability if the amendments made to the provision which is to be regarded as a technical regulation have not been notified, but the text of the law as previously adopted has been notified.

Administrative case No A-84-415/2024.