New view of the nature of crimes against consumer relations

Abstract

With the emergence of new legal interests linked to the market economy, traditional criminal law dogmatics, accustomed to dealing with tangible interests such as life, physical integrity and property, proved perplexed when facing consumer relations, now constitutionally provided for. The characteristic features of these offenses are analyzed regarding the passive subject, the legal object, the typical conduct and the material object, finding that the collectivity figures as the principal passive subject, with the consumer possibly appearing as a secondary passive subject, and that individual interests such as life, health and property are protected only reflexively. It is concluded that crimes against consumer relations do not constitute offenses of abstract or concrete danger, but true offenses of injury to the collective legal interest, the injury or danger of harm to any individual material object of the consumer being irrelevant to their nature.