Court upholds Austrian judgments against Curaçao online casino operator

WILLEMSTAD — The Common Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and the BES islands has ruled on appeal that two Austrian court judgments against the online casino operator Raging Rhino NV can be recognized and enforced in Curaçao.

The case centered on an Austrian player who participated in online gambling through the company’s platform. A court in Vienna had previously determined that the gambling agreements were invalid because the operator did not possess the legally required license. As a result, the company was ordered to repay more than €25,000 to the player.

Raging Rhino challenged the recognition of the Austrian rulings in Curaçao, arguing that enforcing the foreign judgments would violate Curaçao’s public order principles.

The court rejected that argument, stating that the legal review was limited to determining whether recognition of the foreign judgments conflicted with fundamental principles of law, not whether the Austrian courts had ruled correctly on the substance of the case.

In its decision, the court also upheld an earlier ruling regarding legal costs, effectively clearing the way for the Austrian judgments to be fully enforced in Curaçao.

The ruling is viewed as another significant development in the growing number of international legal disputes involving online gambling operators registered in the Caribbean but serving players abroad.