Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Consumer protection rationales
- 2 Techniques of regulation
- 3 The role of criminal sanctions in consumer protection
- 4 The use of the criminal law
- 5 Consumers and safety: the protection of physical integrity
- 6 The protection of economic interests
- 7 The enforcement of regulatory consumer law
- 8 Conclusions
- Index
7 - The enforcement of regulatory consumer law
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 June 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- 1 Consumer protection rationales
- 2 Techniques of regulation
- 3 The role of criminal sanctions in consumer protection
- 4 The use of the criminal law
- 5 Consumers and safety: the protection of physical integrity
- 6 The protection of economic interests
- 7 The enforcement of regulatory consumer law
- 8 Conclusions
- Index
Summary
Introduction
If the criminal law is to be effective in protecting consumers then it needs effective enforcement. Some of the earliest consumer protection statutes created criminal offences, but frequently relied upon private individuals to take action. For example, the Adulteration of Food and Drink Act 1860 made it an offence knowingly to sell food containing an injurious ingredient or which was adulterated. Although local authorities were empowered by the Act to appoint public analysts they were under no duty to do so, and individuals wanting samples to be analysed were required to pay for the service. It was only with the passing of the Adulteration of Food, Drink, and Drugs Act 1872 that the appointment of analysts became obligatory and that local authority inspectors were empowered to procure samples for analysis. Since that time, the enforcement of consumer law by public bodies has become a major characteristic of the system in the UK.
The purpose of this chapter is to examine the ways in which regulatory consumer protection statutes are enforced. Consumer law in the UK is enforced predominantly at local level, by officers employed by local authorities, who will be responsible for a particular geographic area. However, at a national level the Director General of Fair Trading and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry also have some enforcement powers, for example under Part III of the Fair Trading Act 1973, and under the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Consumer Protection and the Criminal LawLaw, Theory, and Policy in the UK, pp. 212 - 243Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2001