Saxony-Anhalt Higher Administrative Court leaves Schufa-G limit question open

The Higher Administrative Court of Saxony-Anhalt issued a decision on 21 October 2026 under case number 3 M 61/26. According to the commentary in the report, the decision fully restores the GGL's ability to act against illegal offers. The commentary says the court left entirely open whether increases in gambling limits can be based on Schufa-G.

The commentary was written by Ronald Reichert, a partner and specialist lawyer for administrative law, and Mia Hartwich, a lawyer.

The authors say the GGL had been unable to act because of an interim decision of the Halle administrative court, and that this urgency has now gone. They add that the higher court did not answer whether Schufa-G is suitable and did not require a specific or immediate replacement. According to the authors, the court leaves clarification of that question to the main or appeal proceedings. They also say the instrument's suitability is due to be reviewed in the statutory evaluation in 2027.

According to the authors, the GGL's recurring line since an earlier decision of the higher court was that this decision had made Schufa-G obsolete. The commentary notes that the court explicitly acknowledges the power to adapt the top stake to changed circumstances. In the authors' reading, the senate does not strike down the specific raise to as much as five euros, and it leaves open whether that raise is lawful, consistent with the rest of its approach.

The authors cite a review by the German states, which found that 5.3% of all players have a deposit limit above €1,000 and 0.02% one above €10,000. They say the court did not address these figures.

On EU law, the authors say the court relied on statements in the opinion of Advocate General Emiliou of 19 March 2026 in case C-530/24. They argue that the assumption that the licensing requirement may apply despite fundamental EU-law defects needs clarification by the Court of Justice.