カジノ管理委が初会合　委員長「国民の信頼築く」

　カジノを含む統合型リゾート（ＩＲ）の整備をめぐり、関連事業者の規制・監督を担うカジノ管理委員会の初会合が１０日、開かれた。会議は非公開で行われ、元福岡高検検事長の北村道夫委員長と委員４人が出席。管理委の運営に関する内部規則を審議した。今後、事業者を規制する規則の策定などに取り組む。
　北村委員長は会合後の就任会見で「委員、事務局が一丸となってカジノ事業に係る国民の信頼をしっかりと築けるよう身を引き締めて業務に励む」とあいさつ。ギャンブル依存症や治安悪化などの懸念に適切に対応する姿勢を強調した。

　ＩＲをめぐっては、東京地検特捜部が汚職事件を捜査中。政府は予定通り整備を進める方針だが、野党は廃止法案を提出する構えで、通常国会の争点となりそうだ。会見で北村氏は「捜査中の事件で答えを差し控えたい」とした上で「事務局職員については、公正性や中立性に疑問を生じさせないよう指導監督していきたい」と述べた。
　カジノ管理委は内閣府の外局となる行政組織で、７日に設置された。原子力規制委員会などと同様に独立した権限を持ち、カジノを運営するための免許を事業者に与えたり、不正が発覚した場合、免許取り消しの行政処分を行ったりできる。（2020/01/10-19:42）

The Japanese government's Casino Regulatory Commission held its first meeting on Friday, amid a high-profile bribery scandal related to casino-featuring integrated resorts.
   At the closed-door meeting, the five members of the commission, including its head, Michio Kitamura, former chief of the Fukuoka High Public Prosecutors Office, discussed rules regulating its operations. It will also work on drawing up regulations on IR operators.
   "The members of the commission and staff of its secretariat will unite and work with a sense of tension to build trust with the public over casino business," Kitamura said at a press conference after the meeting. He also stressed the commission's resolve to deal appropriately with casino-related concerns among the public, such as gambling addiction and a rise in crime.
   The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's special investigation squad is investigating the scandal in which Japanese lawmaker Tsukasa Akimoto, former Cabinet Office state minister for the government's project to launch IRs, has been arrested for allegedly accepting bribes worth 3.7 million yen from a Chinese company that was planning to open a casino resort in Japan.
   While the government plans to move forward with the IR initiative, opposition parties are expected to submit a bill to scrap an IR-related law to the regular session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, that starts on Jan. 20.