Punitive damage

There are some rules that provide social order and regulate the relations of individuals with each other. Among these rules, legal rules are distinguished from other rules with the feature of having the elemet of sanction. Sanction is the result of the legal order when a rule of law is not followed. The most common sanction in private law is damage. The main purpose of damage in Common Law and Continental European legal system which also includes Turkish Law is similar. In both legal systems, the main purpose of damage is compensation. This type of damage is called compensatory damage. However in Common Law there is a different type of damage which is called punitive damage. Punitive damage aims to deter and punish the tortfeasor. Punitive damage is not limited to the amount of injured parties damages since it is intended to deter and punish the tortfeasor. Because of punitory and deterrent functions, punitive damages have been and still are subject to the critics of legal scholars in Continental European legal system. However, despite this the interest to the punitive damage is quite high. The aim of this study is to understand the punitive damages and to examine whether this institution can have future in Turkish tort law.