THE PRINCIPLE OF INSIGNIFICANCE IN ECONOMIC CRIMINAL LAW

Abstract

Economic criminal law aims to protect the economic order and regulate financial and commercial relations, repressing illicit conduct with significant impacts. However, not all offenses in this area should be treated with the same severity, especially when the damage to the community is minimal. In this context, the principle of insignificance emerges as a limitation to criminal law, arguing that conduct of minimal relevance should not be punished harshly, seeking to exclude conduct that, although technically criminal, does not justify punitive intervention. Its application in economic criminal law is relevant, since many offenses, such as minor fiscal and tax crimes, crimes against the financial system, and environmental and consumer safety crimes, can be disregarded due to their low severity. However, the use of the principle must be judicious to avoid excessive criminalization without neglecting the protection of essential legal assets, ensuring a more rational and proportional application of criminal norms. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to analyze the application of the principle of insignificance in economic criminal law, identifying its limits and implications in the criminalization of low-impact economic offenses, without compromising the effectiveness of the protection of legal assets essential to the economic order and social justice. The method used was a bibliographic survey through studies in scientific articles, theses, monographs, laws and case law. This made it possible to search for information where the expected result was that it is necessary to pay attention to the limits and implications of this application, in order to contribute to a more precise understanding of how to balance the decriminalization of minor offenses with the preservation of the effectiveness of the economic criminal legal system.