81In any event, it is settled case-law that restrictions imposed by national legislation must not go beyond what is necessary to attain the end in view (Gambelli and Others, paragraph 72). Although it may therefore, in certain circumstances, prove justifiable to take preventive measures against a gaming operator suspected, on the basis of reliable evidence, of being implicated in criminal activities, exclusion from the market through withdrawal of the licence should in principle be regarded as proportionate to the objective of combating criminality only if it is based on a judgment which has the force of res judicata and concerns a sufficiently serious offence. Legislation which provides for operators to be excluded, even temporarily, from the market can be regarded as proportionate only if it provides for an effective legal remedy and compensation for any loss suffered in the event that such exclusion subsequently proves to be unjustified.
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