Punitive Damages – A Modern Conundrum of Ancient Origin
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Izhak Englard
Abstract
The problem of punitive damages in tort law besets many modern legal systems, especially those belonging to the English common law tradition. It raises a number of the most fundamental questions: the aims and functions of punishment, those of delictual (tortious) liability, and generally the relationship between public (criminal) law and private law; and all that on the background of constitutional principles. No wonder that, in a series of recent decisions of the US Supreme Court, dissent was common and as a foreseeable reaction lengthy, learned academic articles appeared in the law reviews. The present author could not resist proffering an additional one, in the hope that a number of historical and comparative aspects might be of interest in the ongoing discussion.
© 2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Punitive Damages – A Modern Conundrum of Ancient Origin
- Fault, Damage and the Equivalence Principle in French Law
- The New Turkish Tort Law
- Extracts from the New Turkish Code of Obligations
- The New Extra-Judicial Compensation System for Victims of Medical Malpractice and Accidents in Poland
- Punitive Damages in France: A New Deal?
- Compartmentalisation and Harmonisation of Tort Law in Europe: Damage Caused by GMOs as a Test Case
- Paula Giliker, Vicarious Liability in Tort – A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2010)
- Bernhard A Koch (ed), Medical Liability in Europe. A Comparison of Selected Jurisdictions (De Gruyter 2011)
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- Punitive Damages – A Modern Conundrum of Ancient Origin
- Fault, Damage and the Equivalence Principle in French Law
- The New Turkish Tort Law
- Extracts from the New Turkish Code of Obligations
- The New Extra-Judicial Compensation System for Victims of Medical Malpractice and Accidents in Poland
- Punitive Damages in France: A New Deal?
- Compartmentalisation and Harmonisation of Tort Law in Europe: Damage Caused by GMOs as a Test Case
- Paula Giliker, Vicarious Liability in Tort – A Comparative Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2010)
- Bernhard A Koch (ed), Medical Liability in Europe. A Comparison of Selected Jurisdictions (De Gruyter 2011)
