A Study On The Punitive Damages Systems Of Defective Products

The basic goal for the establishment of Punitive Damages System in the field of Product Liability is to punish and curb the infringement act of the defendant, so as to make him give pecuniary reparation to the plaintiff. It differs greatly to the Homogenous Compensation Principle in traditional civil law, as well as other legal systems like the fine,penalty,and mental compensation. Besides, since the sum of the punitive damage is regulated by law, it can well make up for the deficiencies of compensatory damages. The evolution of the punitive compensation starts far back and runs a long long history,it originates from England and has been developed to a new high by the United states. Then, it has received the attentions of the civil law countries, which enables the theory to be developed and shaped. The punitive compensation fully demonstrates the three major values of legal principles:"Justice,Order and Efficiency", which in turns contribute a lot to its function of"prevention","punishment","compensation",and"encouragement".Due to its uniqueness, the punitive compensation for the defective products in actual practice has aroused suspicion.Series of problems might be encountered right after the broadening of the application range, for instance, it might be hard for us to make judgments and have difficulty in providing proofs, or it may result in procedural confusion.Although the Punitive Damages System has been introduced in Consumer Protection Law and Food Safety Law, we could always find that the responsibility imputation is unreasonable, the application range is too narrow, and the amount of the compensation is uncertain, to name just a few. The law of Tort Liability, which has been carried into execution since 2010,faces the same challenges.Therefore,we feel a great necessity to take a comprehensive package of measures to improve the system of punitive damages for defective products, including the enlargement of the application range,the appropriately release of the requirements for punitive damages,the establishment of the perfected product recall system,flexible regulation for the punitive damages, and the mitigation of the consumer's burden of proof .