Approach to pathological gambling treatment in Spanish criminal law

The increasing number of betting offices entails an increase in opportunities to start gambling, but also
concerning the development of pathologies such as compulsive gambling. The situation is the same with
respect to the expansion of online gambling, specially focused on young people, according to the new
context created by the incidence of technologies regarding behavioral addictions. This context entails a
criminogenic risk which could lead to the committing of offences related to pathological gambling, with
the purpose of feeding the gambling habit. In line with this issue, this paper analyses the treatment of
compulsive gambling in Spanish criminal law, taking into account its effect on a person’s willpower, by
means of the analogical mitigating circumstance regulated in art. 21.7 Criminal Code. The description
of the legal framework regarding accountability and mitigation of the penalty in compulsive gambling is
combined with a study about the Supreme Court case law related to pathological gambling treatment.