To what extent should criminal law be used to protect the consumer? In this important new study Peter Cartwright evaluates the role of criminal law sanctions in consumer protection from an economic and social perspective. The author examines the rationales for protecting consumers, and considers the role that legal techniques play in fulfilling these. He then evaluates the interests that consumer law protects, such as physical integrity and economic interests. In addition, he analyses the nature of criminal law doctrines such as strict, corporate, and vicarious liability, and suggests that such doctrines require re-evaluation in the light of the reality of the corporate entity. This study will be of interest to academics, undergraduate and post-graduate students and practitioners.