Xinhuanet, Beijing, April 28 (Reporter Lu Junyu) The Ministry of Public Security has recently issued a notice requiring severe crackdowns on illegal and criminal acts that disrupt the market economic order, severely punish criminals who "prove the country and make money", and crack down on the production and sale of fakes, Infringement of intellectual property rights, hoarding, and driving up the prices of civilian goods.
So, what are the legal consequences for these actions?
The representative of this rule of law class will take you to learn together!
Hoarding and price gouging may be convicted of illegal business operations!
During the epidemic, various channels such as e-commerce shopping, community group buying, and offline sales have played an important role in purchasing necessities for life and epidemic prevention.
However, there are also some unscrupulous businesses and individuals taking advantage of the shortage of supplies during the epidemic and the eagerness of citizens to hoard goods, arbitrarily driving up prices and making "national disaster wealth".
So, what laws does price gouging violate?
From the perspective of administrative laws and regulations, it is mainly the "Price Law", "Administrative Penalty Regulations for Price Violations" and the guidance issued by the state and the city's market supervision departments during the prevention and control of the new crown epidemic.
In addition to ordering corrections and confiscation of illegal income, operators who drive up prices will also be fined up to five times the illegal income or 3 million yuan, and may even be ordered to suspend business for rectification or have their business license revoked.
Judging from the provisions of the Criminal Law, price gouging is suspected of violating the provisions of Article 225 (4) of the Criminal Law, and may constitute the crime of illegal business operations.
According to the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Justice "On Legally Punishing Illegal and Crimes Obstructing the Prevention and Control of the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic": During the epidemic prevention and control period, violations of relevant state market operations and price management It is stipulated that hoarding, driving up the prices of protective equipment, medicines or other items that are urgently needed for epidemic prevention and control, or making huge profits, and the amount of illegal income is relatively large or there are other serious circumstances that seriously disrupt the market order, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal business operation.
Those who make and sell fakes and use them as shoddy ones will be sentenced and fined!
During the epidemic, a few unscrupulous businesses and individuals took advantage of the opportunity to fish in troubled waters, producing and selling counterfeit and shoddy epidemic prevention and living materials, making huge profits.
So, what legal responsibilities do you have to bear in the production and sale of counterfeit and shoddy goods?
From the point of view of civil liability, return, replacement and repair are indispensable.
In case of fraudulent acts, compensation or even punitive damages shall be borne.
From the perspective of administrative responsibility, production and sales are stopped, illegal products and illegal gains are confiscated, fines are imposed, and business licenses may even be revoked.
From the perspective of criminal liability, depending on the specific circumstances, production and sales of counterfeit prevention and protection products, materials, or medical equipment such as medical masks, goggles, and protective clothing that do not meet national and industry standards may also constitute production and sales. The crime of counterfeit and inferior products, the crime of producing and selling medical equipment that does not meet the standards, the crime of counterfeiting registered trademarks, and the crime of selling commodities with counterfeit registered trademarks.
The crime of producing and selling fake and shoddy products.
Article 140 of the Criminal Law stipulates that if the producer or seller mixes or adulterates the product, passes the fake product as the genuine one, passes the inferior product as the good one, and passes the unqualified product as the qualified product, and the sales amount is more than 50,000 yuan, it constitutes production. , the crime of selling fake and shoddy products.
The criminal law also sets different statutory sentences according to the amount of sales. If the amount exceeds 2 million yuan, it may be sentenced to 15 years of fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment, as well as a fine or confiscation of property.
The crime of producing and selling medical equipment that does not meet the standards.
Article 145 of the Criminal Law stipulates that the production and sale of medical devices and medical hygiene materials that do not meet the national and industrial standards for the protection of human health, which is enough to seriously endanger human health, constitutes the crime of producing and selling medical devices that do not meet the standards. .
Where the consequences are particularly serious, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment, and shall also be sentenced to a fine of not less than 50% but not more than twice the sales amount or confiscation of property.
crime of intellectual property infringement.
According to the provisions of Article 213 of the Criminal Law, if the owner of the registered trademark uses the same trademark as its registered trademark on the same commodity or service without the permission of the owner of the registered trademark, if the circumstances are particularly serious, he may be sentenced to a fixed term of not less than three years but not more than ten years. imprisonment and fines.
According to the provisions of Article 214 of the Criminal Law, whoever sells goods that are known to be counterfeit registered trademarks, and the amount of illegal gains is relatively large or has other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, and shall also or only be fined; if the circumstances are special In serious cases, it may also be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years, and a fine.