On The Limitation Of Punitive Damages Liability In Environmental Civil Public Interest Litigation

Article 1232 of the Civil Code,implemented in 2021,provides for punitive damages in the field of environment,but there is no conclusion on the scope of application of punitive damages in the field of environmental infringement in the academic community.There are limitations in both affirming the theory that punitive damages can be applied to environmental civil public interest litigation and denying it.The provisions of Article 12 of the Supreme People’s Court’s Interpretation on the Application of Punitive Damages to the Trial of Ecological Environment Infringement Disputes affirm that environmental civil public interest litigation can refer to the application of punitive damages,opening up a new path of liability limitation.Through sorting out academic disputes and analyzing judicial cases in which punitive damages are applied in environmental civil public interest litigation,it is found that there are issues such as unclear application order,unclear standards for constituent elements,differences in calculation methods,and confusion in the relationship with other monetary penalties.This thesis explores the application of punitive damages from the perspective of liability limitation,in order to give full play to the punitive and deterrent functions of punitive damages and effectively maintain environmental public welfare.This thesis demonstrates through the interpretation of the meaning,system,and purpose that the Interpretation does not infringe upon legislative power,and expounds the necessity of liability limitation from such aspects as the "responsibility system""independence of the responsibility to repair the ecological environment" "abuse of the punitive damages in judicial practice" "optimal deterrence" and "formal rationality",laying a legitimate foundation for liability limitation.In the standpoint of recognizing the path of liability limitation,both punitive damages and environmental civil public interest litigation have the nature of public law.Therefore,the principle of efficiency and the principle of proportionality should be considered as limiting factors.As a legitimate reason for punishment,imputability should also be one of the limiting factors.Due to these limiting factors,corresponding limiting rules are proposed:Under the principle of efficiency,environmental administrative actions are applied in priority to punitive damages due to their high efficiency;Under the principle of proportionality,strictly determine the constituent elements of responsibility meet the appropriateness,monetary penalties offset each other meet the necessity,and fair penalty reflect proportionality;The ecological environment restoration responsibility belongs to behavioral responsibility,so the calculation base should exclude the cost of repairing the ecological environment;Under the limitation of imputability factors,different liability coefficients are assigned according to different behavior patterns and malicious degrees,then calculation multiples are determined,and quantitative rules are set to serve individual case adjudication.In addition,in order to meet the nature of public law and the purpose of setting up punitive damages,this thesis also constructs two supporting measures.They are punitive damages’attribution and innovative measures.