Abstract: Punitive damages, a kind of special damages imposed on the tortfeasor for the purposes of punishment and deterrence on top of compensatory damages, should be based on the premise that the actor’s wrongful conduct constitutes a tort and the actor should bear the liability for damages. Although formally the punitive damages stipulated in Article 1232 of the Civil Code of China have the basic structure of a norm as a basis for a claim, its constituent conditions are essentially restricted by the general provision of Article 1229 of the Civil Code of China on the liability for environmental pollution and ecological damage. From the dependence of punitive damages on compensatory damages, we can see that Article 1232 merely establishes three aggravated constitutive conditions for punitive damages on the basis of Article 1229. As to explanatory provisions in the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Imposition of Punitive Damages in the Trial of Ecological and Environmental Tort Cases on the three aggravated constitutive conditions stipulated in Article 1232 of the Civil Code of China, some are consistent with the systematic connection between Article 1232 and Article 1229 and the characteristics of liability for environmental pollution and ecological damage as a danger-based liability, while some others are questionable. 

Key Words: Ecological and Environmental Torts; Liability for Environmental Pollution and Ecological Damage; Punitive Damages; Compensatory Damages

Author: Zhu Guangxin, research fellow and doctoral supervisor, CASS Institute of Law;

Source: 10 (2023) Political Science and Law.