Punitive Damages System

Punitive damages, being the specific legal system of countries with the common law system, have made a steady development even though there exit much disputation. More and more punitive damages system has been introduced into the legislations in China since 1993. However, the academic world has argued a lot about the property, position and the scope of suitability of the punitive damages institutions. In order to deal with these problems, the paper is divided into four parts.To begin with, the theoretical summation about the punitive damages is made inSection I. The conception and character of the punitive damages are analyzed and the system constitution of the punitive damages is then expounded.In Section II, the author have introduced and compared in detail with the origin and the development of the punitive damages system in England and American, to which the author also gives a survey about the influence on the countries with the Continental Law System, the anlehnung and the import of punitive damages of these countries.In Section III, various kinds of disputation about the punitive damages are commented and analyzed, the value of which is also expounded and verified. After that, using the valuable views for reference, the author demonstrates the property and the function of the punitive damages. At last, the author clarifies the relationship between the punitive damages and the relative legal system, and makes an argument to support the particular developmental value of the punitive damages.In the last Section, the author makes an analysis of the status quo of the punitive damages in Chinese legislation,resulting in that we should establish the legal status of the punitive damages. Finally, some helpful suggestions are proposed to consummate and develop the punitive damages system in China.