Punitive damages – in the area of Tort Law this term refers to these special and highly exceptional damages, that have been given by a court against a defendant where the act or omission which caused the law case, was of a particularly heinous, malicious or highhanded nature. Where awarded by the court, they are an exception to the applicable legal rule that damages are to compensate, but not to punish. The exact threshold of punitive damages varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. These are most common in intentional torts such as rape, battery or defamation. Somewhere called “exemplary damages”. See also http://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Punitive_damages.html