On The Application Of Punitive Damages In Tort Law In China

Punitive damages are damages awarded to the plaintiff in addition to compensatory damages, and are intended to punish the defendant for his wrongdoing, as well as to deter the defendant and other latent wrongdoers from conducting the same or similar misconduct in the future. Punitive damages have four characteristics: punitive, subjective liability, statutory and adjunctive natures. It has natural differences between compensative damages and the spiritual damages. Punitive damages reflect the trend of the modem civil law, match the change of the tort law, and fulfill the function of civil liability. It has no conflict against the theory of the civil law. So there are legal principles to apply punitive damages into the tort law of our civil law code. In Great Britain and the United States, punitive damages are widely used in tort law. The mature way of the conditions and scope of imposing punitive damages and calculating the appropriate amount in the Anglo-American law system set a good example for our country. Because of the differences in trial system and the spirit of private laws, Japan and Germany are conservative as to punitive damage, which, however, have been applied to civil law in Taiwan. The condition of applying the system in tort law of our country has been formed. Firstly, there are multiple forms of torts. Secondly, there were correlative provisions of the punitive damages in traditional laws of China. Thirdly, there is the necessity of internationalizing the law system. The feasibility of applying this system according to the history of Chinese law and the applicable environment of the law system and the research fruits of the scholars. The subjective conditions of punitive damages are intentional or gross negligence. And the system ought to be introduced into the realms of the duty of quality, environmental protection, protection of intellectual property, vicious medical treatment accidents, the civil liability in stock market, the tort liability of harming others deliberately and so on. The amount of punitive damages should follow a moderate principle reasonably and all kinds of factors, such as punitive damages' nature and purpose, the character and degree of the defendant's wrongdoings, the harms that the defendant did or might have done and the harms that might result if similar future behaviors were not deterred, the possibility of the defendant's liability, the economic condition and so on.