On The Application Of Punitive Compensation System In China's Contract Law

Punitive damages is a system that has been produced and widely used in common law system.It aims to punish malicious wrongdoers,deter and prevent illegal acts and maintain social and public order by imposing punitive damages.Punitive damages in the common law countries continue to improve,but also accompanied by many disputes.For a long time,scholars have different views on the nature,legitimacy and scope of application of punitive damages.Although China is a country of civil law system,the general principle of civil liability is compensatory compensation,but in the attitude of punitive compensation,neither deliberately excluded,nor completely copied the experience of other countries,but according to China's national conditions for reference,made the corresponding localization transformation.For the first time since 1993,in "Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law" provisions of punitive damages,for more than 20 years,punitive damages have been basically established in our country and become an important way of right relief.The scope of application has expanded from general consumption contracts to commercial housing sales contracts,tourism consumption contracts,contract areas to infringement areas,it has exerted an important influence on the development of our country's economy and society.The economic foundation determines the superstructure,and the development path of punitive compensation in China fully reflects the characteristics and problems of economic development in different historical periods.In the second chapter,based on the current legislative situation of our country,this article chooses the more typical provisions of Article 55 of Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law and Article 8 of Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on Several Questions of Applicable Law in Trial of Disputes over Commercial Housing Sale Contracts,to analyze the application and effect of punitive damages in judicial practice in China by case retrieval.At the same time,it points out that the main problems of the punitive damages system in our country at the present stage lie in the narrow scope of application,the lack of general rules,the unclear constituent elements,and the rigid provisions of punitive damages.In the third chapter,aiming at the late appearance of punitive damages in China and the shortcomings that need to be improved,the author puts forward some suggestions for the improvement of punitive damages in the field of contracts in China.It includes defining the applicable conditions of punitive damages,mainly focusing on the identification of fault and damage consequences;Expanding the scope of application of punitive damages and proposing that punitive damages should be applied to serious cases of contract fraud and special contract cases where the status of both parties is different.;To improve the calculation standard of punitive damages,we should mainly determine the reasonable calculation base of punitive damages,establish a reasonable calculation model of punitive damages,and increase the reference factors of punitive damages.