An error is a condition in which a person believes that he knows reliable information, but in fact they do not correspond to reality. It can occur for various reasons.
In ordinary life, delusion is often associated with a lack of knowledge in a certain field. Some unscrupulous citizens take advantage of this and commit various illegal actions. As a result, a misguided person loses property, money, and other valuables. Often, deliberate misrepresentation is used in practice. In the Criminal Code, it is recognized as a method of committing various crimes. An example is fraud.
Consumer misrepresentation
Currently, the rights and interests of buyers are protected by several regulations. One of the main ones is Federal Law No. 2300-1. The list of possible ways to protect consumer rights contains precisely this law.
Misrepresentation takes place if the product information provided to the buyer is not true. Examples of such actions of the seller:
· Deliberate exaggeration of the merits of the product;
· The provision of false information about the quality of the goods or the expiration date;
The body authorized to monitor sellers' compliance with legal requirements is Rospotrebnadzor. It is in this structure that you can contact when revealing the fact of misrepresentation.
In the Criminal Code, Art. 200. It established a penalty for various actions, including misleading the buyer. However, in 2003 it was canceled. Currently, liability for misleading the buyer is provided for in the Code of Administrative Offenses and Federal Law No. 2300-1.
Contractual relationship
When concluding transactions, the parties, as a rule, draw up a written agreement. It spells out the basic conditions for cooperation, the rules for the settlement of disputes.
If one participant in the relationship finds out that he was misled, he has the right to terminate the agreement unilaterally. Meanwhile, when committing such an action, a number of nuances must be taken into account.
First, the fact of misrepresentation must be proved. In practice, this is quite difficult to do.
Secondly, in many cases the law provides for a claim procedure for resolving the conflict. This means that if a fact of misrepresentation is discovered, the injured party must send a claim to the other party to the transaction with a proposal to fulfill obligations or terminate the contract with all the consequences arising from this. If the answer is unsatisfactory or not received at all, the affected subject may go to court. To his claim he needs to attach all the documents confirming compliance with the claims procedure.
Such disputes are considered one of the most difficult courts in practice. The main problems are related to the collection of evidence.
It must also be remembered that the law establishes a three-year statute of limitations for misleading claims. The countdown starts from the date of the transaction.
Misleading investigative authorities
It may be intentional or unintentional. In the latter case, we are talking about situations where the victim, experiencing severe stress, cannot accurately remember the events or their sequence, gets confused in the testimony. In such cases, the investigator must correctly assess the condition of the person, if necessary, appoint a medical examination.
Intentional misrepresentation is usually carried out by suspects and accused. The reason is quite simple and clear - to avoid responsibility. Meanwhile, in practice, cases of misleading a court or investigation by a witness or even by the victims themselves are not uncommon. There can be many reasons for this. Usually, the deliberate direction of authorized bodies on the wrong path is determined by fear of possible revenge on the part of the offender or his acquaintances / relatives. Witnesses sometimes mislead officials to discredit the innocent or, conversely, to save the guilty party from liability. All of these and similar actions are illegal. The Criminal Code provides for punishment for providing false information.
What are the ways to protect?
The legislation provides for criminal, administrative and civil liability for misleading the subject.
As mentioned above, the Federal Law No. 2300-1 contains a list of ways to protect consumer rights. For example, a customer may:
· Require replacement of low-quality goods with high-quality ones;
· A commensurate reduction in the price of the product;
· Free elimination of detected defects;
· Reimbursement of the amounts spent by the purchaser for self-repair of the goods.
If the seller hides from the buyer information about product defects that cannot be eliminated without damaging the item or changing its purpose, properties, etc., the consumer can terminate the contract and demand compensation for the cost paid.
Cash recoveries
In the Code of Administrative Offenses there is Art. 14.7. According to her, a penalty is provided for misleading the buyer about the properties of the product:
· Citizens - 3-5 thousand rubles;
· Officials - 12-20 thousand rubles;
· Legal entities - 100-500 thousand rubles
How to protect your rights?
Summarizing the above, you can write a short instruction for those who have become a victim of misleading. The pattern of actions may differ depending on the nature of the legal relationship in which the subject is involved. If we consider the example with the consumer, then it is necessary:
1. Write a complaint to the name of the store director (manufacturer). It should describe its claims and express one of the requirements provided for in Federal Law No. 2300-1.
2. Write a complaint to the territorial office of Rospotrebnadzor. The application is sent to this body, as a rule, if the previous step has not yielded results. The complaint can not describe the event, but only indicate that the claim was disregarded. It, accordingly, needs to be attached to the application.
3. At the same time, the victim may file a claim. The purpose of applying to the court is to recover expenses by force. If the seller turned out to be a scammer, then it is advisable to report to the police. In this case, a criminal case will be instituted against him. The applicant is entitled to file a civil claim as part of the proceedings.
Features of evidence
If the subject of the claim is defective goods, you should take a photograph and attach it to the statement. In addition, documents proving the fact of acquisition are necessary (check, receipt, invoice, etc.).
It is also advisable to seek the support of witnesses. You can take written explanations from them or invite them to court.
Misconception and deception: what is the difference?
In the Civil Code of the Russian Federation there is Art. 178. It enshrines the grounds for invalidating a transaction. Among them are indicated deception and significant error.
Often these concepts are used as synonyms. For example, in Art. 14.7 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is considered a form of deception. However, in some regulations, these terms are separated from each other.
If we talk about the practice of applying the provisions of article 178 of the Civil Code, it must be taken into account that they are not about misleading, but about an independent misunderstanding of the situation. In other words, a person has formed his own ideas about something without outside influence.
The differences between deception and error are quite difficult to explain.Nevertheless, it is still possible to highlight some specific features.
Misconception, for example, may arise as a result of the intentional actions of another person or may be unintentional. Deception, in turn, is always committed with intent. That is, the entity intentionally provides false information to another person.
Information that leads to confusion is twofold. Under normal conditions, based on the information, one can draw both a correct and an incorrect conclusion. Information obtained as a result of deception unambiguously forms a person’s misconception about the subject.
In case of delusion, a person may be an active or passive party. It may be misleading; he may form misconceptions under the influence of another person. When tricked, the party providing false information is always active.
Conclusion
Summarizing the above, we can conclude the following. If the obtained information allows us to draw both correct and incorrect conclusions, then there is a misconception. If the information clearly does not correspond to the real state of affairs, there is deception.
Since some normative acts do not provide for a significant difference between these terms, it is inexpedient to prove which specific method of violation of rights another person used. It is important to prove that there has been a violation of interests.
