Reflection And Improvement Of Punitive Damages Rule

Punitive damages, also known as Vindictive Damages or exemplary damages,mean that the damages the court sentenced are far away more than the actual damage.Different scholars hold different views on the question of the origin of punitivedamages. Most of them think punitive damages in the common law begin in1763,while America identified the system in1784.The amount of punitive damages is oneof the factors used to tell if the punitive damages works. Too large amount will bringexcessive punishment to defendant, while too small amount will weaken the deterrenteffect of punitive damages and make the plaintiff lose the desire to subject thedefendant to liabilities. Therefore it is of great importance to normalize the formulamode of punitive damages. In common law system, punitive damages is decided bylegal precedent, while in our country, considering the different law system, it is stillcontroversial if some articles are punitive damages in our law system in educationalcircles. Which can be confirmed is that either common law countries or the stateenactments, they both show that punitive damages tend towards perfection. Aside ifthere is specific punitive damages in our law system, the tort law enacted in2010established China’s products liability tort system of punitive damages. Somescholars question that there is no rules about the amount of punitive damages, whichis the crux of punitive damages. As told, the formula mode of punitive damagesdecides if the system can succeed. The article tries to discuss and study the rules ofcommon law countries, in orders to improvement the system of our country.The first part is the summary of the formula mode of punitive damages. It is inbad need to restructure the formula mode of punitive damages in consideration of thedrawback in our system. The second part analyses and discusses the legal provisionsof Taiwan and some countries with thorough system. Especially in the fieldof products liability tort system, this article makes summary and conclusion. Thethird part focus on the way to improve the formula mode of punitive damages, and the article put forward a perfect suggestion to the punitive damages system.