Charities—advertising and marketing

Advertising law and regulation

Many UK legislative provisions covering advertising were repealed and replaced in May 2008 to implement Archived Directive 2005/29/EC (Archived Commercial Practices Directive) . The main two pieces of legislation are the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPUTR 2008), SI 2008/1277 and the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008 (BPR 2008), SI 2008/1276. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA 2024) gained Royal Assent on 24 May 2024. DMCCA 2024 will revoke and replace the CPUTR 2008 with provisions set out in DMCCA 2024, ss 224–252 once the relevant provisions enacting this change come into force.

The self-regulatory framework is very important in the UK, although in the area of broadcast advertising it is carried out under the statutory regime governed by the Communications Act 2003.

The main form of regulation for non-broadcast advertising is the 12th edition of the UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising, Sales Promotion and Direct Marketing (CAP Code) written by the Committee on Advertising Practice (CAP). 'CAP' is a self-regulatory body and its members include organisations that represent

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