Regulatory Offenses

Abstract This chapter is on regulatory offenses. The world of regulatory offenses is vast, as regulatory offenses can be generated from anything that the state regulates, which is just about everything. This chapter examines regulatory offenses by first defining and describing them. Regulatory offenses typically exist because regulatory schemes exist, implementing regulatory schemes often involve rules, and such rules are criminally enforced at times. This chapter discusses as examples two broad areas of regulation: environmental protection and preservation on one hand, and drugs and devices for medical use on the other. This chapter shows that rule violations in such contexts do not necessarily result in direct endangerment of the public but might still interfere with regulatory schemes established by the government, which both sets the relevant standards and commands compliance with them.