Research On The Protection Function Of Social Interests In The Consumer Rights Protection Act Of Punitive Compensation System

After the reform and opening up,the market economy has developed rapidly,and the economic activities among individuals have become more frequent.However,under this harmonious appearance,there is a hidden profit-driven "bad heart" of businessmen,and various "fake and shoddy" goods and services are emerging one after another.While repeatedly banned,they still infect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers like the virus,eroding the stable order of the market,so the government has to use the powerful weapon of law to crack down and keep them within limits.Starting from Article 49 of the Consumer Protection Law,enacted in1993,the Contract Law(1999)and the Interpretation of the Supreme Law on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Trial of Commercial Housing Contract Disputes Law(Interpretation [2003] No.7),Labor Contract Law(2008),Food Safety Law(2009),Tort Liability Law(2010),Tourism Law(2013),Consumer Law(2014),The Food Safety Law(2015)etc,which are all based on Article 49 of the Consumer Protection Law,have tailored successively the punishment mechanism for consumers and for the rights and interests of market order in different fields – the punitive damages system.The punitive damages clauses of the Consumer Protection Law regulate the “fraudulent behavior”of the operator.Unlike the traditional concept of civil liability,the negative infringement effect on the behavioral relative persons is not terminated by civil compensation,but continues to spread the “third party”."The punitive damages that are peculiar to the punitive damages system bear the responsibility of impeding the spread of the violation and protecting the rights of the"third party".This is the fundamental basis of the protective function of the social benefits of the punitive damages system.The legislators hope to increase the amount of excessive punitive damages,set the unilateral obligations of the operators,expand the scope of liability for compensation,lower the threshold of responsibility,raise the marginal cost of breaking the law for operators and the marginal benefits of defenders by breaking through the principle of civil compensation and homogeneity to achieve the system effect of the protection of the overall interests of the consumer,the tilt protection of the infringed interests of consumers and the enhancement of the positive externalities of the market.However,there is still an unclear direction of the legislative protection of social interests in China's punitive damages system,the key to judicial application is lack of legislative support and the function of social interestprotection lacks the connection of relevant external rules.As a result,consumers' right to claim punitive damages is often hindered by different perceptions of consumers' subject qualifications,by different identification criteria for fraudulent practices of operators and by the unclear definition methods that are already well?known to all.In order to solve this problem,it is necessary to review from the existing normative texts of the legislative system,to firmly defend the public interest protection of the punitive damages system,and clarify the “key terms” commonly used in the application of legislation and justice,such as“buying fake products on purpose ”,and the core connotation of "fraud" and "be fully aware " to optimize the judicial practice of the social interest protection function of the social standard-oriented punitive damages system.