Punitive compensation - A Comparative Study.

This research aims to shed light on a legal principle known as the principle of punitive compensation or disciplinary compensation, a principle that Arab and Western legislations have differed on as supporters and opponents. It deviates from the general principle of compensation, which is compensation for the entire damage, regardless of the severity of the fault that caused the harm. Some may see that punitive compensation is a penal penalty that falls within the jurisdiction of the criminal judge only, without the civil judge. However, when we research the legal basis for punitive compensation and the provisions of the Western judiciary, we find that punitive compensation is a civil penalty imposed by the civil judge on the offender due to his negligence, error, and lack of caution. This compensation belongs to the victim solely and does not belong to the state treasury. Thus, I decided to research this principle to highlight it and clarify its practical importance and how to apply it in the event of a foreign judgment coming to the Jordanian judiciary that includes punitive compensation for its implementation in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.