STF halts judicial battle over bets and only the plenary will decide on prohibition

Minister Luiz Fux, of Supremo Tribunal Federal (STF), responded to a request from the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and ordered the suspension of all actions opened in the country against the ban on bets.

The decision is valid until the plenary of STF judges the constitutionality of Medida Provisória 1.394/2026, which banned, throughout the national territory, the operation of fixed-rate betting platforms, so-called bets.

The MP was published in October by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

What's at stake

The MP is questioned in the Supreme Court in four Direct Actions of Unconstitutionality (ADIs), opened by entities such as the National Association of Games and Lotteries (ANJL) and the Brazilian Institute of Responsible Gambling (IBJR).

At the same time, the companies responsible for betting have triggered the first instance of Justiça Federal throughout the country, in search of decisions that allow the return of the platforms of betting to the air.A threshold favourable to three bookmakers came to be deferred in São Paulo, but was later overturned by the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF3), at the request of the Federal Court of the 3rd Region (TRG).

Why PGGR asked for the suspension

This led the PGR to ask Minister Luiz Fux, rapporteur on the issue in STF, to suspend all similar actions that they take in any court in the country, while the Supreme Court does not give a final decision on the matter.

The Attorney General of the Republic, Paulo Gonet, told the Supreme Court that the proliferation of court decisions authorizing the release of bookmakers generates legal uncertainty. Among the cases cited by Gonet are the decisions, in early October, of Justiça Federal on São Paulo and TRF-3, allowing some companies to continue to exploit the activities of the company.

More than 10 processes on the subject process only in São Paulo.

What Fux Said

In agreeing with the request, the minister wrote that: “There is a risk of legal uncertainty due to the possibility of multiple decisions in divergent directions, with the aggravating factor of being a potential release of activity recognized to be harmful and of high social risk, whatever the exploitation of fixed quota bets.”

Last week, Fux held a audiência pública on the matter, before taking the case to the plenary. At the time, he said he had the impression that bets should, in fact, be banned. (The information is from Agência Brasil)

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