In the world order, States are legally obliged to protect their economies, hence the emergence of economic criminal law to protect the financial system. In this sense, this area of law establishes a set of rules of a commercial, civil, administrative and especially criminal nature, since it seeks to regulate and protect private economic activity and economic activities in which the State participates, one of the factors being the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.
This legal framework is adapted to the economic policies governing each nation. Its primary function is to protect society against corporate crimes, punishable insolvencies, tax and social security crimes, price alterations in tenders and auctions, unfair administration crimes, crimes against the market and consumers, crimes against industrial property, crimes of frustration of execution or seizure of assets, money laundering, corruption in business, deceitful offers and swindles; which are the criminal types that we mainly observe in this branch of criminal law. Likewise, economic criminal law assumes as part of its tasks, the evaluation of the criminal liability of those responsible and directors of legal persons, an important action in the work of maintaining order in the economy of the countries.
One of the crimes that most affects the economies of the planet is money laundering or launderingdefined by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury as the ".disguise of assets to be used without detection of the illegal activity that produced them". The professionals trained in this area of law are in charge of investigating and doing justice in cases of this nature that atrophy economies and have severe consequences on social development.
In the publication Derecho Penal Económico Venezolano Bases Constitucionales, authored by Carlos Simón Bello, it is considered that the goal of this specialty is "to define and punish unjust economic behavior, i.e., that which injures or endangers, by intolerable means, economic-legal assets, especially important for the individual, society and its institutions, against which there are no other reasonable means of defense and protection.".
The vision and approach of economic criminal law is of supra-individual interest.that is to say, that it transcends the individual and is marked by impersonality. When a vision is supraindividual, it means, legally, that it does not belong to a specific physical or juridical person, but is part of a heterogeneous community with a social identity.
The Constitutions or Magna Charters of the countries are the legal frameworks of the economic order.. Bello defines it as: "the set of rules regulating the relationship of the economic agent of the power of attorney.". In general, three basic aspects are taken into account here: ownership regime, forms of relationship between economic actors and distribution of competencies.
"The clarification of the principles of the Economic Constitution can be established by considering, first, the model of the State, as well as the type of relationship, close or distant, conceptual and operational, between the socioeconomic system, which the Economic Constitution comprises, and the defense and safeguarding of human rights and legal property.", states Bello's publication.
Economic criminal law in Venezuela
The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999), establishes in Title VI the provisions governing the Socio-Economic System of the country. Article 299 determines that the socio-economic regime of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is based on the principles of social justice, democracy, efficiency, free competition, environmental protection, productivity and solidarity, with the intention of ensuring integral human development. "The State, together with the private sector, shall promote the harmonious development of the national economy, in order to generate sources of employment, high national added value, raise the standard of living of the population and strengthen the economic sovereignty of the country, guaranteeing legal security, solidity, dynamism, sustainability, permanence and equity in the growth of the economy, in order to achieve a fair distribution of wealth through democratic, participatory strategic planning and open consultation.", reads the aforementioned article.
Venezuelan law grants the State all the shares of Petróleos de Venezuela. or the entity that manages the country's oil industry, for reasons of economic, political and social sovereignty. Likewise, the latifundia regime is considered contrary to the social interest, and therefore the regulations will be aimed, in tax matters, at taxing idle lands and establishing the necessary measures for their transformation into productive economic units.
The law of fair costs and prices regulates, among other aspectsThe Constitution guarantees in Article 115 the right to property, ensuring that all persons have the right to the use, enjoyment, enjoyment and disposition of their property. Article 115 of the Constitution guarantees the right to property, ensuring that all persons have the right to the use, enjoyment, enjoyment and disposition of their property. However, it clarifies that property shall be subject to the contributions, restrictions and obligations established by law.
Article 117 of the Magna Carta, determines: "all persons shall have the right to have access to quality goods and services, as well as to adequate and non-deceptive information on the content and characteristics of the products and services they consume, to freedom of choice, and to equal and dignified treatment".
New developments in Venezuelan regulations regarding economic criminal law.
The success of the Venezuelan state is in the laws governing the matter, we can say that Venezuela is up to date in legislative matters with the most modern legal instruments both to regulate and generate the protection due to the intervening factors and to repress the negative factors of the economy such as money laundering and illicit financial intermediation.
However, excessive state control and open criminal offenses, such as boycotts, generate a discretionary power that is often detrimental to the functioning of a company. financial system healthy.
Disadvantages of the Venezuelan regulation regarding economic criminal law.
Clearly we observe that:
- Excessive state control
- and open criminal offenses such as the crime of boycotting
They generate functional discretionality, which is often detrimental to the functioning of a healthy financial system.
