Punitive damages in Turkish and U.S legal system

This thesis explores the features of the damages which are in excess of compensation in Turkish Legal System comparison with punitive damages in U.S. Legal System. Under U.S. Legal System, punitive damages are damages, other than compensatory or nominal damages, awarded against a person to punish him for his outrageous conduct and to deter him and others like him from similar conduct in the future, where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant has been behaved outrageously, in a civil lawsuit governed by civil procedure. In Turkish Legal System, the cases where claimant can claim damages, in an amount exceeding compensatory damages, have been increasing, which adopted by different statutes, aim to deter a person and others like him from similar conduct in the future. These damages are called "punitive damages", "private law punishment", or "penal damages". These are damages for act in bad faith under summary debt recovery procedures, discrimination damages, notice damages, damages for ill-will rescission, damages for job security, worker compensation to deter the employer from revoking job contract under labor law, treble damages for violation of competition, additional damages for breach of pledge of assets agreement, damages for bad check, and damages for copyright infringement. The absence of punitive damages like U.S. Legal System and limiting responsibility of the tortfeasor only compensatory damages in tort cases such as fraud, and product liability are a deficiency for Turkish Legal System. A general punitive damages provision is needed for Turkish Legal System.