The Construction Of Punitive Compensation System In Food Safety Civil Public Interest Litigation

There are frequent violations of consumers’ rights and interests in the field of food safety.Compensatory compensation only compensates for the loss suffered by the infringed,without punishment beyond the actual damage.It is difficult to punish the wrongdoer and curb his illegal behavior,and the infringed may lose the motivation to Sue.In order to maximize the protection of food safety,achieve social fairness and justice and safeguard public interests,comply with the national policy of establishing punitive compensation system for food safety civil public interest litigation,it is very necessary to introduce punitive compensation in food safety public interest litigation.At present,the introduction of punitive damages in civil public interest litigation in the food safety,there is still a battle over the right subject qualification,the nature of the right of claim,such as theory of the dispute.There is also a lack of specific provisions on punitive damages in civil food safety lawsuits.Article 148 of China’ s Food Safety Law only affirms the subject qualification of consumers’ right to claim punitive damages,while other laws and regulations and judicial interpretations related to punitive damages in the field of food safety do not clearly stipulate that procuratorial organs and consumer associations can file punitive damages on behalf of consumers.In judicial practice,different judgments are made in the same case.In 2017,Hubei Lichuan case became a domestic case that approved the qualification of the procuratorial organ as the subject of punitive compensation for civil public interest litigation on food safety.However,there are still some courts that do not support the qualification of the procuratorial organ or consumer association as the subject of claim right.In order to solve the above disputes,it is necessary to discuss the construction of punitive compensation system in food safety civil public interest litigation from three aspects of theory,legislation and judicial practice.First of all,it is necessary to clarify the obstacles in the establishment of punitive damages system in the field of food safety in theory,legislation and judicial practice.Theoretically,the subject qualification of claim right and the nature of punitive damages claim right are controversial.At the level of judicial practice,there are disputes over the types of punitive damages,it is difficult to define the damage to the public interest of food safety,unreasonable calculation standards and methods of compensation,non-standard execution of compensation,and lack of rules for the management and use of compensation.At the legislative level,there are no clear provisions on the above disputes.Secondly,to break the obstacle,the further study of procuratorial organ and the eligibility of punitive damages,punitive damages claims relative independence,civil public interest litigation punitive damages in the field of food safety standard of damage types,damage the public interests,the calculation of compensation,compensation management and use.Finally,the legislative suggestions for constructing the punitive compensation system of food safety civil public interest litigation are put forward to clarify the subject qualification of the procuratorial organs for bringing punitive compensation,specification applicable conditions and scope of punitive damages,perfect the compensation calculation method and standard,improve the system of punitive damages in the management and use.