Contravention And Criminal Liability For Practice Of Unfair Competition

The commercial activity primarily presumes the compliance with the legal provisions relating to the acts and deeds of commerce. The commercial activity is, from a legal perspective, a correct exercise of the ownership and free initiative by the legal person in the commercial activities, the business conduct being necessary to circumscribe the legal rules that govern the commercial market. This article has as starting point on the one hand the need for legal provisions ensuring a real protection to the Romanian consumers exposed to unfair trade practices, and on the other hand of some comprehensive legal stipulations on tradesmen’s contravention and criminal liability that show an unfair competitive conduct. The general regulatory framework regarding the unfair competition consists of the Law no. 11/1991 on combating the unfair competition, the legal stipulations which relate to the European provisions on the matter, namely the Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council from May 11th 2005 concerning unfair commercial practices of enterprises in the internal market to consumers and amending the Directive 84/450/EEC of the Council, of the Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) no. 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The European legislation includes the stipulations regarding the unfair commercial practices prohibited in the E.U. space, as well as the stipulations relating to the economic interests of consumers who enter into transactions with tradesmen. In this respect, the European regulations deem unfair trade practices those acts or actions that violate the principles of professional diligence and which may influence the commercial decisions of consumers, being categorized as misleading practices and aggressive commercial practices. In accordance with the provisions of the Law no. 11/1991 on combating the unfair competition, with the ulterior amendments and supplements, unfair competition represents the commercial practices of the enterprise that contravenes the fair usages and the general principle of good faith and which cause or may cause damage to any market participants. According to art. 301 of the old Criminal Code, the unfair competition consists in the manufacture or circulation of goods bearing a false designation of origin or false indications of origin and application on the products put in circulation of false mentions regarding the patents or the use of certain commercial names or of the denominations of industrial or trade organizations, in order to mislead the beneficiaries. In the new context of the European trading market where our country is a party and which involves certain rigors of expression and the development of online commercial transactions, the specific legislation requires an adaptation to the new conditions and a serious and sustained involvement of the competent bodies in combating and punishing the unfair competition practices.