美国航空产品责任惩罚性损害赔偿问题研究

Research on the Punitive Damages of American Aviation Product Liability

惩罚性损害赔偿在英美法系国家的产品责任实践中较为普遍,但由于航空产品责任交织运输责任与产品责任,该制度在一系列航空产品责任案件中的适用情况较为混乱。华沙公约体系和蒙特利尔公约并不承认惩罚性损害赔偿,而调整产品责任的国际公约和大多数国家的国内立法明确规定惩罚性损害赔偿,因此,在发生航空产品责任事故时,诉因不同,受害人获得的赔偿也不尽相同。为提高航空活动的安全性,应考虑在航空运输责任领域例外性地规定惩罚性损害赔偿的条件与范围,这样既可充分有效地保护受害人权益,又可化解司法冲突和不公。

Punitive damages is more common in the practice of product liability damages in the Anglo-American countries represented by the United States. However, due to the liability of aviation products and the responsibility of products, the application of the system in a series of aviation product liability cases is rather confusing. The Warsaw Convention System and the Montreal Convention, which uniformly regulate the responsibility of international air transport carriers, do not recognize punitive damages, while international conventions regulating product liability and domestic legislation in most countries clearly stipulate punitive damages in the event of aviation product liability.Thus, in the event of an accident, the compensation for the victim is totally different. In order to improve the safety of aviation activities, the conditions and scope of punitive damages should be exceptionally defined in the field of air transport responsibility, so that the rights and interests of victims can be fully and effectively protected, and the judicial conflicts and injustices can be resolved.