Consumer Protection and the Criminal Law

[4.01] Introduction. This chapter is concerned with those parts of the criminal law which regulate the supply of goods to consumers. ¹ Whilst the law of theft requires proof of mens rea, ² it has long been recognised in this context that widespread effectiveness requires the imposition of strict criminal liability. ³ Consequently, since the Middle Ages there have been a series of such criminal UK measures; ⁴ and their scope was considerably enhanced as a result of the recommendations of the Molony Report in 1962, ⁵ especially the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 (TDA: see para 4.02 ) and the consumer safety legislation (see para 4.31 ). On the civil side, Molony led to a number of consumer protection statutes ⁶ and there are also a number of mixed civil and criminal statutes, e.g. the CCA (Chap 5), CPA ( para 17.23 ). Many such statutes tend to regulate just information disclosure, reserving duties to take further steps to particular classes of dangerous goods (see para 4.26 , et seq.); and, in relation to information disclosure, the preference is for prohibiting false information, rather than a positive duty to disclose, e.g. any unsafe goods. ⁷ But there are signs that the courts may be taking a different attitude to information disclosure, at least in relation to the TDA: see Farrand v Lazarus (set out at para 4.02 ). At the same time, the courts seem to prefer prosecution under the TDA to be confined to defendants with mens rea. ⁸