Pages: 31-42

Abstract

The punitive damages are a type of non-repairable damages which occur due to the ‎insolence and carelessness in the damaging behavior of the defendant, paid to the ‎interest of plaintiff by the order of the court, to punish the defendant and prevent the ‎repetition of similar actions by him and the other members of the society. The punitive ‎damage in the civil lawsuits (including contract lawsuits and civil liability lawsuits) are ‎issuable and the main basis for issuance of such a damage is the deterrence and ‎punishment. The punitive nature of such a crime has led some to consider it as having ‎a penal nature, so they oppose awarding of it for private lawsuits. On the contrary, ‎some totally deny the penal nature of this damage and consider it to be a fully civil ‎case. A contract-breaching behavior and existence of an element that justifies the ‎punishment are the indicator of application and identification of the punitive damage, ‎be it happening in the violation of a contractual commitment or as an action causing a ‎constructive trust. The extent of the punitive damage is determined by the court based ‎on the case’s conditions. There are controversies and clashes of ideas on the ‎insurability of the punitive damages, however, it should be noted that insuring such a ‎damage is to some extent incompatible with its objectives. The current study, through ‎the use of the descriptive-analytical method, has aimed at answering the question of ‎whether the punitive damages can be applied for contracts` domain or not? It has also ‎dealt with the explanation of different kinds of contract violations and compensation of ‎the damage inflicted by the contract violation‎.