Keenan and Riches’BUSINESS LAW

Chapter 12 Criminal liability in business

Learning objectives

After studying this chapter you should understand the following main points:

■the role of the criminal law in protecting consumers and combatting

unfair trading trading practices;

■the legal framework governing the distribution of unsafe consumer

products;

■in outline, the provisions of the main piece of legislation governing the

Safety and quality of food

■the nature of other criminal offences which may be relevant to business,

such as theft, fraud and other forms of malpractice.

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Since the earliest times, the criminal law has been

used to protect consumers and restrain dishonest and

unfair trading practices. This approach has clear ad-

vantages. The maintenance of high standards in busi-

ness and protection of the public are not dependent on

isolated individual action. Instead, since crimes are

regarded as offences against the community as a whole,

responsibility for enforcement is entrusted to public

officials who bring proceedings against rogue traders at

public expense. Traders who ignore the rules run the

substantial risk of prosecution and criminal conviction,

especially as most of the crimes against consumers are

strict liability offences which do not require proof of

fault. This is a powerful incentive to businesses to ensure

their compliance. Suppliers today are subject to extens-

ive criminal controls over their activities. In this chapter

we shall concentrate on some of the more significant

provisions of the criminal law as they affect the supplier

of goods and services, namely in relation to:

■unfair commercial practices;

■safety of consumer goods;

■safety and quality of food.

Other areas of business activity relating to the supply of

goods and services which are subject to the criminal law

are also noted.

In this chapter we will examine how the activities of
those in business may be affected by the criminal law.

Criminal law and the supplier of

goods and services

So far in this book we have examined the civil liability
of businesspeople for their activities in contract and tort.
The civil law is concerned with the rights and obligations
which arise between individuals, with enforcement of the
law the responsibility of the person who has been wronged.
So, if a consumer alleges that a supplier is in breach of
contract or has acted negligently, it is up to the individual
consumer to bring an action in the civil courts for
redress. In reality, consumers are reluctant to embark on
litigation to enforce their rights, especially where small
sums of money are involved. If consumers’ rights can
be ignored with relative impunity, suppliers may be
tempted to drop their standards in pursuit of increased
profit margins. The result will be that not only are con-
sumers denied protection at a practical level which the
civil law in theory purports to afford them, but honest
traders seeking to maintain high standards of quality
and care are placed at a competitive disadvantage.