In the law of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 unsolicited goods are goods delivered to an individual with a view to the individual acquiring them, but where the individual has no reasonable cause to believe that they were delivered for legitimate business and had not previously agreed to acquire them. These were regulated under the Unsolicited Goods Act 1971 but the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000

Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000

The Consumer Protection Regulations 2000, SI 2000/2334, incorporates Directive into law of the United Kingdom. They apply to contracts "concluded between a supplier and a consumer under an organised distance sales or services provision scheme run by the supplier who, for the purposes of the...

 are stricter in every respect rendering the 1971 Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 redundant although there is no express repeal

Repeal

A repeal is the amendment, removal or reversal of a law. This is generally done when a law is no longer effective, or it is shown that a law is having far more negative consequences than were originally envisioned....

.

Rights of the Recipient

The "recipient may [...] use, deal with, or dispose of the goods as if they were an unconditional gift to him" and "[t]he rights of the sender to the goods are extinguished".

Criminal Liability of the Sender

Under the Consumer Protection Regulations 2000

Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000

The Consumer Protection Regulations 2000, SI 2000/2334, incorporates Directive into law of the United Kingdom. They apply to contracts "concluded between a supplier and a consumer under an organised distance sales or services provision scheme run by the supplier who, for the purposes of the...

 it is a criminal offence to:

• Assert a right of payment for the goods.
• Threaten to take legal action
  Lawsuit
  A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
  
   with regard the goods.
• Threaten to Place the recipients name on a 'black-list'.
• Invoke or threaten to invoke any collection procedure.

This is important as if the individuals is not aware that they have legal title to the goods, they may unjustly enrich

Unjust enrichment

Unjust enrichment is a legal term denoting a particular type of causative event in which one party is unjustly enriched at the expense of another, and an obligation to make restitution arises, regardless of liability for wrongdoing.Definition:...

 the sender. The fine amounts up to Level 5 on the standard scale

Standard scale

The standard scale is a system whereby financial criminal penalties in legislation have maximum levels set against a standard scale. Then, when inflation makes it necessary to increase the levels of the fines the legislators need to modify only the scale rather than each individual piece of...

, besides the first offence

Crime

Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...

which is measured up to Level 4 on the standard scale

External links

• The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 (full text)