Punishment vs. Tort Liability

Abstract

This chapter focuses on tort liability. In the international legal order, the tort regime is of particular importance. As we shall see, the Alien Tort Claims Act has a vital role to play either as a backup to a failed attempt at criminal prosecution or the inability to get jurisdiction over a defendant in hiding. Thus, the international regime of tort liability responds to the same concerns of “impunidad” as one finds in the Preamble of the Rome Statute. The chapter then looks at the concept of punishment. Punishment is the domain of criminal law. Liability in tort cases is not officially punishment. In fact, punitive damages imposed by an American jury can have more severe consequences than a brief period in jail. Yet the line between crime and tort is maintained strictly in American jurisprudence.