Research On The Judicial Application Of Punitive Damages System In Chinese Food Safety

"Food is regarded as their heaven by the people and the most important thing of food is to ensure its safety." When we see various problems in the food industry,the food safety punitive compensation system came into being and was placed high hopes.Partly,this system solves the urgent problem now.But now,not only the theoretical circle has great differences in its judicial application,but also the judicial circle has.Therefore,the purpose of this study is to solve the controversial issues in the judicial application of punitive damages in the field of food safety for a long time.By studying the reasoning and demonstration process of the court and combing the judgment ideas,it is of of great importance to ameliorate the system and integrate the judicial application.The punitive compensation system for food safety refers to the system of damages other than the actual damages awarded by the court to the producers and operators when the producers and operators maliciously manufacture and sell unsafe food and cause damage to the victims.It is stipulated in paragraph 2 of article 148 of the food safety law.In addition,the system is based on human rights protection theory,substantive justice theory and cost-income theory.By studying the case,there are problems in judicial adjudication:(1)the judgment rules of the identity of those who know and buy fake are different;(2)Inconsistent identification of food safety standards;(3)The scope of application of the food label defect exclusion clause is controversial;(4)There are differences in the identification standards of punitive damages;(5)The distribution of the burden of proof is unreasonable.With the research of overseas,British and American countries not only implement this system,but also judges have greater judicial discretion.Germany and Japan reject the punitive damages system,but the theoretical and judicial circles take the system seriously.In view of the above problems,I make the following recommendations:(1)appropriately expand the scope of compensation obliges by explaining the concept of consumers broadly and distinguishing benign and malignant fake buyers;(2)Strictly explain food safety standards and further improve the food safety standard system;(3)In order to unify the scope of application of the proviso,firstly,the examination method of combining form and substance is adopted to clarify the relationship between label defects and food safety.In addition,explain the misleading effect of food label defects on consumers;.Finally,the food label dispute cases are dealt with in types;(4)The judge should be given the discretion to compensate for the floating limit.First,take the ceiling as the premise.Secondly,divide the floating compensation standard.Finally,we should pay attention to the considerations of punitive damages;(5)Reasonably allocate the burden of proof between food producers,operators and consumers;(6)Improve relevant supporting measures.Firstly,improve the public interest litigation system.It can effectively connect the relationship between entity and procedure,and then comprehensively relieve large-scale victim groups.Secondly,producers and operators should establish a good moral outlook and create a high-quality credit system.