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Punitive Damage Compensation System

Posted on:2007-05-11Degree:DoctorType:Dissertation
Country:ChinaCandidate:H T HuangFull Text:PDF
GTID:1116360182491422Subject:Civil and Commercial Law
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
Punitive damages are damages awarded to the plaintiff in addition to compensatory damages, and are intended to punish the defendant for his wrongdoing, and to deter the defendant and other latent wrongdoers from conducting the same or similar misconduct in the future. Unlike normal civil or tort law compensatory or actual damages awarded to a person as compensation, indemnity, or restitution for harm sustained, punitive damages are aimed at different purposes of deterrence and retribution-that of punishing the defendant and of setting an example for similar wrongdoers. Therefore punitive damages represent quasi-criminal punishment awarded to the plaintiff over and above what will compensate him for his concrete loss. States which adopt Continental-European legal system distinguish public law from private law and hold the rule that civil damages is to restore the injured party to the position he was in prior to injury. Such states generally resist the system of punitive damages. As such, the system of punitive damages is unique of the Anglo-American law system.In the process of judicial experimentation in the punitive damages realm under the Anglo-American law system, the particular considerations focused for determining whether or not to award punitive damages have varied against different historical background, and a number of controversial issues have derived therefrom. Those controversies include constitutional issues such as whether punitive damages award is against the rule of the Constitution that prohibits double jeopardy, whether a punitive award is constitutionally excessive, Due Process Clause, and other issues involving application and system construction such as the nature of punitive damages, the measurement of punitive damages, liability of principals and employers, insurability of punitive damages, extraterritorial reach of punitive damages. The U.S. Supreme Court has provided rules in respect of punitive damages and holds that punitive damages are civil liability awarded in civil suits and are not sufficiently criminal for double jeopardy purposes as well as the constitutional rule that prohibits excessive fines. With respect to the due process clause, the Court holds that punitive award does not violate the procedural safeguard of due process principles. However, the Court has provided some controls, holding that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment imposes...
Keywords/Search Tags:punitive damages, compensatory damages, consumer (rights) protection law, torts, contract, fraud, punishment, deterrence
PDF Full Text Request
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