Exemplary Damages: A Genuine Concept?

In this article I examine the concept of exemplary damages. Unlike many other studies, this paper omits policy reasons and focuses primarily on the very concept of exemplary damages. My aim is thus not to argue for or against this remedy but rather to show whether or not it is a coherent and genuine legal category. Following relevant case law, I develop a conceptual definition of exemplary damages under English law of tort. This, I argue, is subject to three types of critical arguments – an argument from insufficiency, from positive exclusivity and from negative exclusivity – that highlight its incoherence. With respect to the problematic aspects of the concept, I compare exemplary damages under English law to similar concepts in Czech law. This helps to show the relevance of ontology to the law of damages. I suggest that from a certain ontological perspective, we can reinterpret exemplary damages in a more coherent and acceptable manner. I conclude that such an understanding of exemplary damages makes them immune to the previous critique and also to the objection of ‘ordre public’ in private international law.