Criminal aspects of consumer protection

Abstract

The text examines the criminal aspects of consumer protection, analyzing the meaning of Criminal Law intervention and the incriminating norms of the Brazilian Consumer Protection Code. It criticizes the naive and magical view according to which Criminal Law would solve all problems, sustaining the necessary observance of the principle of minimal intervention and the subsidiary and accessory character of Economic Criminal Law. It points out the violation of the principle of legality by open and indeterminate criminal types, such as those relating to misleading and abusive advertising and the sale of goods unfit for consumption. It also analyzes Law 8,137/90, highlighting the adequate treatment of concurrence of persons and criticizing the conversion of custodial penalties into fines based on the BTN. It concludes that Administrative Law and civil settlement offer more timely and effective instruments than criminal repression.