Consumer Protection and the Criminal Law Law, Theory, and Policy in the UK potx

[...]... attention being paid to the boundaries of criminal sanctions, and particular concern being addressed to increasing criminalisation Against this background, it is surprising that so little has been written about the role of criminal sanctions in the protection of the consumer The criminal law has been the prime technique used by successive post-war governments to implement consumer policy in the UK Intervention... Weatherill, Consumer Protection Law (Aldershot, Dartmouth and Ashgale, 1995), p 1 R Cranston, Consumer Protection Law and Economic Theory’ in A J Duggan and L W Darvall (eds.), Consumer Protection Law and Theory (Sydney, The Law Book Company, 1980), p 243 Howells and Weatherill, Consumer Protection Law, pp 2–3 Consumer protection rationales 19 law can play an important role in avoiding monopolies and, in. .. analysis in this work is relevant wherever matters of consumer policy are being considered The book provides a critique of regulatory consumer law, by examining the objectives of consumer policy, the role of criminal law in society, and the extent to which consumer protection is an appropriate topic with which criminal law can deal The book seeks to achieve its aims in the following ways First, it investigates... definition of the consumer It is concerned to examine the way in which criminal law is used in the context of consumer protection in the UK, but the UK has no agreed definition of the consumer Few could deny that the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 are properly described as consumer protection statutes, even though they take different approaches to whom they protect It is therefore...Preface Consumer protection law and criminal law have both received considerable analysis from academic lawyers The role of legal intervention with the aim of protecting the consumer has come in for scrutiny in a number of seminal works, many of which concentrate upon the role of consumer law in the marketplace The role of criminal law has also been discussed by a large number of leading commentators,... 2000), pp 8–11 I Kennedy, The Unmasking of Medicine (The 1980 Reith Lectures) (London, Allen and Unwin, 1981), p 117 Cited in Ramsay, Consumer Protection, pp 11–12 4 Consumer protection and the criminal law libraries.10 The Molony Committee, which was set up in 1959 to consider and report on changes to consumer law, opined that the consumer is ‘everybody all of the time’ However, the committee did not... concerns, criminal law should retain its central function in the protection of the consumer Rather than a policy of decriminalisation, what is needed is a reassessment of the ways in which regulatory crime operates, with particular attention being focused on the categories of defendant to whom the law applies, and the techniques by which they are held responsible The book next examines the law on the basis... Studies, 1982) It is interesting to note the UK Government’s decision to have citizenship taught in schools as part of the National Curriculum in the light of this Wilhelmsson, Consumer Law and Social Justice’ in Ramsay (ed.), Consumer Law in the Global Economy, p 217 18 Consumer protection and the criminal law the context of discussing social justice Recent developments in the civil justice system... legal forms, including criminal law, tort, and contract, to achieve their objectives In addition to those laws that specify consumer protection as their primary concern, numerous other provisions have the effect of protecting the consumer, for example by streamlining the prosecution of fraud, protecting property, or facilitating litigation.1 As a result, the boundaries of consumer protection law are not... under either heading Using the language of efficiency and equity 1 2 See for example, the Misrepresentation Act 1967, the Theft Act 1968, and the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (as amended) It is recognised that many of these statutes will have additional aims, in particular, the protection of honest traders and the encouraging of fair competition 1 2 Consumer protection and the criminal law rather than . This page intentionally left blank Consumer Protection and the Criminal Law Law, Theory, and Policy in the UK To what extent should criminal law be used. Joe Contents Prefacepageix Acknowledgementsxii Listofabbreviationsxiii 1Consumerprotectionrationales1 2Techniquesofregulation40 3Theroleofcriminalsanctionsinconsumerprotection63 4Theuseofthecriminallaw87 5Consumersandsafety:theprotectionofphysicalintegrity126 6Theprotectionofeconomicinterests156 7Theenforcementofregulatoryconsumerlaw212 8Conclusions244 Index250 vii Preface Consumer