Study On Punitive Damages In Mass Torts

In recent years,mass torts caused by enterprises occurred frequently in various areas of social life in China,resulting in serious damages and abominable society effects.However,the system of compensatory damages in traditional tort liability theory cannot effectively contain and prevent the repeated occurrence of mass torts due to the limitation of the compensatory damages in solving the mass torts disputes.The purpose of this paper is to analyze the nature and features of mass tort,and to discuss the solution of mass tort by introducing punitive damages.The paper consists of introduction,text and conclusion.The text is divided into four chapters.The first chapter defines the concept of mass tort,and summarizes the nature and features of mass tort by studying the cases normally occurred in the field of product quality,food safety,environmental pollution and financial transaction.Mass tort is a concept which is opposite to normal tort.The features of mass tort is as follows: enterprises serving as the subject of torts,numerous victims,complex causal relationship,difficulty in getting compensation,and serious social jeopardy.The second chapter discusses the introduction of punitive damages system to solve mass torts.Firstly,the reasons for compensatory damages being inapplicable to mass tort are analyzed.Secondly,the origin and development of punitive damages is introduced.Finally,the necessity of the introduction of punitive damages to solve the problem of mass tort is discussed.The third chapter makes a detailed introduction on the development and current situation of punitive damages in common law system countriesand civil law countries,and points out that the foreign system construction and judicial practice regarding punitive damages has important significance for our country,but we still need to keep a cautious attitude.The fourth chapter provides suggestions on how to establish and amend the system of punitive damages in our country.On the one hand,by reviewing the provisions of punitive damages in existing laws,these provisions have some defects in solving mass torts,such as small scope of application,unobvious preventive effect and lack of understanding of the subjective state of tortfeasor.On the other hand,the author provides suggestions on improving the punitive damages from the aspects of expanding the applicable scope,determining the applicable conditions,reasonable distribution of burden of proof and reasonable calculation of punitive damages.