环境侵权惩罚性赔偿司法适用的困境与破解

The Dilemma and Solution of Judicial Application of Punitive Damages for Environmental Tort

摘要: 作为我国《民法典》的重大制度创新，惩罚性赔偿制度在环境侵权领域发挥显著的惩罚、威慑和补偿等功能。从理论基础、历史发展、价值功能多方角度全面解析惩罚性赔偿制度后，重点分析其在环境侵权的司法实践情况。其在司法领域面临“三重运行困境”：证明责任配置失衡、构成要件认定模糊、裁量基准缺失。为此，合理配置举证责任、明晰结果构成要件、细化惩罚性赔偿金标准是环境侵权惩罚性赔偿制度适用困境的破解之道。

Abstract: As a major institutional innovation of China’s Civil Code, the punitive damages system plays significant functions such as punishment, deterrence and compensation in the field of environmental tort. After a comprehensive analysis of the punitive damages system from multiple perspectives such as theoretical basis, historical development, and value function, the focus is on analyzing its judicial practice in environmental tort. It faces “triple operational predicaments” in the judicial field: unbalanced allocation of the burden of proof, ambiguous determination of constituent elements, and the absence of discretionary benchmarks. Therefore, rationally allocating the burden of proof system, clarifying the constituent elements of the result, and refining the standards of punitive damages are the solutions to the application predicament of the punitive damages system for environmental tort.