Investigating Restrictions on Punitive Damages in United States Law

Punitive damages is an institution that is rooted in common law. although in Iranian law there is a legal letter, but is used only in civil cases against some foreign states, it is not actually accepted in domestic law of Iran. To this occasion, works have been written in Persian language, about the possibility of accepting and rejecting it in Iranian law and in Some of them, the introduction of this legal concept to Iranian law is recommended. In this regard, attention to the limitations imposed on punitive damages in the United States of America in recent years can be of great help to researchers in this area. Because the review of these restrictions after years of experience in punitive damages in this country has been designed and to address some of the problems caused by punitive damages, especially the criticisms of the unjust enreachment in punitive damages cases and to ignore defendant’s rights in these cases. According to the proposition, the entry of punitive damages to Iranian law in its pure form and without such restrictions would be out of the way of planning and wisdom. In the present article, five of the most important restrictions that apply to punitive damages in the United States, have been attempted to address punitive damages reforms in American law. These restrictions range from the impossibility of claiming punitive damages in four states from the United States to a ceiling for punitive damages in the laws of more than 25 states in the United States, as well as rigorous laws to demonstrate a specific description of a harmful act and Or its subject in the cases of punitive damages, as well as the receipt of part of the punitive damages in favor of the General Fund.