Awards of Punitive Damages - SAR 2003 - 2
Jessica Jia Fei, is an associate of Jones Day Beijing Office, and an LL.M. graduate from
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Stockholm Arbitration Report (SAR)
Preview Page SAR 2003 - 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. THE FUNCTION OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES
2. WHETHER THE ARBITRATORS HAVE THE POWER TO AWARD PUNITIVE DAMAGES?
2.1. Attitudes of U.S. courts towards awards of punitive damages
2.2. Applicable law and the power to award punitive damages
3. SHOULD ARBITRATORS AWARD PUNITIVE DAMAGES?
3.1. Risk of non-enforcement by national courts
3.2. Public policy concern
3.3. Enforceability of punitive damage award
The idea of punitive damages is perhaps one of the major differences in the legal theories of civil law and common law. In civil law countries the concept of punitive damages is scarcely known, whether in breach of contract cases or otherwise, with a limited exception in some countries where there has been a willful intention to harm the claimant, amounting in effect to fraud. Of the common law countries, only in the United States are punitive damages awarded in what are essentially breach of contract cases. The use of civil damages to punish and deter is common in the American system. Punitive damages serve a public policy function, and the award of punitive damages is entrusted to American civil juries on a daily basis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
1. THE FUNCTION OF PUNITIVE DAMAGES 2. WHETHER THE ARBITRATORS HAVE THE POWER TO AWARD PUNITIVE DAMAGES? 2.1. Attitudes of U.S. courts towards awards of punitive damages 2.2. Applicable law and the power to award punitive damages 3. SHOULD ARBITRATORS AWARD PUNITIVE DAMAGES? 3.1. Risk of non-enforcement by national courts 3.2. Public policy concern 3.3. Enforceability of punitive damage award