Imprisonment for violating the Marketing Practices Act

Current rules

According to the current Marketing Practices Act, violation of the prohibition against misleading marketing and aggressive commercial practices is only punishable by a fine, unless a more severe penalty is prescribed by section 279 of the Criminal Code, which addresses fraud, or by other legislation. 

New rules on imprisonment

The new rules allow for imprisonment for a term not exceeding four months for particularly serious, repeated, or systematic violations of the prohibition in the Marketing Practices Act on misleading marketing and aggressive commercial practices. The provision will be reflected in section 37(4) of the Marketing Practices Act.

Imprisonment may apply to violations of sections 5 and 6 of the Marketing Practices Act, when aggravating circumstances are present, and violation of the prohibition against aggressive commercial practices in section 7 and Schedule 1, nos. 24-31, see section 9. Violation of the prohibition against aggressive commercial practices can result in imprisonment, even without the existence of aggravating circumstances. For imprisonment to be considered, the violation must have been committed intentionally or wilfully.

According to the provision, aggravating circumstances include systematic violations for economic gain, for instance, when numerous violations occur, or when it can be shown that very serious violations were premeditated or followed a deliberate structured system or principle.

The Act does not specify which individuals with a company might be subject to imprisonment, only that it applies to those who intentionally or wilfully commit or omit actions leading to violation.

The Consumer Ombudsman estimates that there will be 0-3 cases annually where imprisonment may be pursued. 

The Act comes into force on 1 July 2023.