A Research On Punitive Damages In Products Liabibity

compensatory damages has been the core of the tort liability law in our country, while with the expansion of production scale, infringement acts related to products also occasionally occur and are becoming even more violent. In many cases, traditional compensatory damages can no longer well protect the victims. To deter and contain illegal acts, the system punitive damages for products comes into being which is generally materialized by the court awarding product liability subject to pay certain amount of punitive damages. In recent years, the system of punitive damages for products is developing at a fast pace in our legal system. on February 28 of 2009, Food Safety Law of the P.R.C was passed, in which Article 2 of the Clause 96 specified the system of "tenfold damages"; and in Clause 47 of Tort Liability Law of the P.R.C passed on December 26 of that year specified the punitive damages for product liabilities; and also "threefold compensation" and other punitive damages for infringement were specified in Clause 55 Law of the People’s Republic of China on Protection of Consumers’Rights and Interests passed on March 15,2014. Punitive damages on product liability can also be seen in many other clauses of laws. That can not only punish and contain some illegal acts, and also fully compensate the victim and stimulate them to protect their rights by lawsuit. However, we are still lagging behind Common law countries in the specification of application conditions, scope of application, expression approach and damages standards. So it is imperative to perfect this system under the circumstances of the rampant product tort events.Apart from the introduction and conclusion, there are five parts,The first part of the thesis draws out the significance of punitive damages on product liability by analyzing the defects of the compensatory damages and administrative punishment in dealing with civil disputes, and by comparing the functional differences of the punitive damages and compensatory damages; it comes to the conclusion that punitive damages can better settle disputes. Part two makes a detailed discussion about the theoretic basis of the punitive damages on product liability, analyzes the justification of the system and the feasibility of enforcement in our country, and thus proposes the urgency for us to introduce this system. Part three explores the enforcement status of this system in foreign countries by comparative method and reaches such a conclusion that punitive damages can be localized but shall be in discretion. And then the thesis points out the shortcomings of our country in enforcing punitive damages on product liability after an overview of the legislation status of this system in part four. In part five, the thesis identifies the amount of damages and consideration factors, and by analyzing the matters to be noticed for this system abroad, it presents the subjective requirements of expanding the punitive damages system on product liability, identifies the reference factors of the damages and sets both the ceiling and lower limit of the amount of punitive damages.The creation and significance of the thesis lie in the fact that it identifies the special functions and the applicability of punitive damages system to settle some specific problems of civil disputes by finding out the diseases of the compensatory damages system and administrative punishment in solving the disputes between equal civil subjects, and on such basis, it systematically discusses the justifications and necessities of the punitive damages system and emphasizes its applicable theories. The research conducted in this thesis mainly by sorting out the principles of judicial precedent, trial for legislations and practical application of the system under different genealogies of law, discussing its specific contents and functions, and then researching on some issues related to punitive damages system on product liability. The writer analyzed the recent legal specifications of this system in our country, made integration and comments on its specific principles with realizing its maximum functions as the target, and thus tries to the development path of this system in our country.