Research on Punitive Compensation System in Civil Public Interest

With the gradual implementation of the Civil Code and its judicial interpretations, the application of punitive damages in public-interest civil litigation has attracted increasing scholarly and prac-tical attention. Beginning with an examination of the institution’s evolution and theoretical justi-fication, this article analyses its distinctive position within the public-interest litigation frame-work and its normative foundations. It argues that the mechanism simultaneously exhibits pub-lic-and private-law attributes, aiming through supra-compensatory awards to punish and deter wrongdoing while financing the restoration of collective interests. Nevertheless, the current re-gime confronts structural difficulties: fragmentary legal bases, disputes over standing, incon-sistent quantification criteria, and unguided judicial discretion. To resolve these problems, the article proposes a systematic amendment to the Civil Procedure Law that clarifies the conditions under which punitive damages may be sought and the bases on which they are calculated, con-structs an integrated subjective-objective test for liability, and establishes both a dedicated pub-lic-interest litigation fund and tailored procedural tracks. In this way the system would shift from ex post compensation to ex ante risk prevention. The study seeks to advance the standard-isation, refinement and juridification of punitive damages in China’s public-interest civil litiga-tion.