| In recent years,the frequent occurrence of food safety problems and the repeated prohibition of illegal acts in the food field have seriously hindered the healthy and stable development of the food industry in China,which was a great threat to health safety of the people and even the long-term stability of the country.Thus,China has introduced the punitive compensation system in order to punish and curb illegal acts in the food field by adopting the implementation of relevant laws and regulations since the1990 s,thereby safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of consumers,and escorting the sustainable and stable development of China’s food industry.The punitive compensation system has been implemented for more than 20 years,during which it has been undergone many revisions and additions.For instance,the punitive compensation system was first introduced from 1993,and the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress made comprehensive revisions to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests in 2013.The Food Safety Law was deliberated and adopted by the NPC Standing Committee in 2009,and the new Food Safety Law was deliberated and voted by the NPC Standing Committee in 2015,etc.It should be mentioned that the introduction and adoption of the law and relevant judicial interpretations have played very important roles on punishing and curbing illegal acts in the areas of food safety in our country,thereby safeguarding consumers’ legal rights and interests,and good development in the field of food in China.However,there is still very challenging for the relevant legal systems to face the specific cases in the real process because of the short development time of relevant legal systems and the complex situation in the field of the food safety in China.To be brief,there are still several major issues in the punitive damages system corresponding the food industry in China.For instance,the point of current law and relevant judicial explanation of “advocating punitive damages without on the premise of causing personal injury” is contradictory to that point “no damage,no compensation ”of the basic legal principles of the civil law of conflict,which is necessary to further explain and clear.The provisions in the food safety Law and relevant judicial interpretations require that the wrongdoer is subjectively “aware” and must have carried out the illegal act without causing damage.However,it is significantly different in the Law on the Protection of The Rights and Interests of consumers,which requires the wrongdoer to be “fraud”,and objectively carry out the fraud,and also cause damage consequences.Therefore,the uncertain composition of punitive damages in the field of food safety,results in many problems in the application of specific laws in China;In addition,there are still lack of relevant documents,eg.defining the related evaluation factors,for judging the amount of punitive damages in China,which seriously limits the discretion of the judge.Therefore,unfair phenomena such as different judgments in the same case by the courts have often occurred,which results in that the legislative purpose of relevant laws and regulations in the field of food safety is difficult to achieve in our country,and also the unsatisfactory implementation effect.In addition,the civil public interest litigation is absent in the field of food safety for a long time in China,resulting in that the victimized consumers to have nowhere to ask when their legitimate rights and interests are violated.A part of victimized consumers can only rely on their own strength to defend their rights,and ultimately it is difficult to safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.Even if the rights protection is successful,they are tired of litigation.Moreover,it is also not clear for the current provisions about the attribution and distribution of punitive damages.Although legal provisions and the relevant court judgment of punitive damages are generally much lower in China compared to other countries such as Britain and the United States.It is still necessary to make further provisions for the attribution and distribution of punitive damages in order to quell the relevant doubts.Lastly,it is not advisable for the relevant laws to set a specific amount for punitive damages.Because the key factors such as the speed of economic development,inflation and price increases in China have not been taken into account carefully.Given that the serious problems discussed above still exist in the punitive compensation system in the field of food,our country should carry out targeted improvement according to the following points:(1)Clarify the conflict between China’s current legal provisions and the spirit of jurisprudence,and further explain the “actual damage”;(2)Make clear the constitutive elements of punitive damages and solve the contradictions and conflicts in the application of specific laws;(3)In aspect of considering relevant factors for application of punitive damages,we can learn and absorb advanced experience of other countries,such as Britain and the United States,to determine the relevant factors and standards for the guidance and reference of courts at all levels,and avoid unfair judgments and different judgments of the same case;(4)Gradually cancel the minimum amount of punitive damages set in the specific amount and attempt to apply the annual per capita income of the location of consumers as the minimum standard of punitive damages;(5)Clear attribution and distribution of punitive damages to better protect consumers;(6)Continuously explore the application of civil public interest litigation in the punitive compensation system in the field of food safety in China.In the future,China’s punitive compensation system should start from the standpoint of punishment and protection,strictly grasp the application of punitive compensation,make clear the identification standard of punitive compensation,effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers through the introduction of civil public interest litigation,and promote the healthy and long-term development of food safety market.In view of the above problems existing in the punitive compensation system in the field of food safety,China should improve it from the following points:(1)Clarify the conflict between China’s current legal provisions and the spirit of jurisprudence,and further explain the "actual damage";(2)Clarify the constituent elements of punitive damages and solve the contradictions and conflicts in the application of specific laws;(3)In terms of the consideration of relevant factors in the application of punitive damages,by learning from and absorbing the advanced experience of Britain and the United States and other countries,determine the relevant considerations and standards to guide and refer to the courts at all levels,so as to avoid unfair judgment and different judgments in the same case;(4)It is not recommended to set a specific amount in the minimum amount of punitive damages,and replace it with the per capita income of the consumer’s location in the previous year as the minimum amount of punitive damages;(5)Clarify the ownership and distribution of punitive damages to better protect consumers;(6)Continue to explore the application of civil public interest litigation in China’s punitive compensation system in the field of food safety.In the future,the punitive damages system in our country should from the standpoint of punishment and protection,strictly grasp the application of punitive damages,clarify the standards for the identification of punitive damages,and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and promote the food safety market long-term healthy development by introducing civil public interest litigation. |
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