A sign of things to come?

In a rare move, an Israeli court has awarded "American"-style punitive damages against defendants in an assault case. In addition to awarding 700,000 shekels (NIS) for direct damages, the court also awarded 300,000 NIS in punitive damages both to teach the criminals a lesson and to deter similar conduct. The Israeli courts have had the authority to issue punitive damages but were waiting for a "suitable" case. The judge said in issuing the ruling: "The awarding of punitive damages is indeed reserved for unusual and extraordinary cases, and I firmly believe that this is an unusual and extraordinary case. It is not every day that two people conspire to grievously harm another, pouncing on him with knives, practically slaughtering him and causing him such extensive wounds." (Anat Roeh, "Teaching criminals an expensive lesson in the 'American' way," Haaretz Daily, Jan. 31). It will be interesting to see if judges in Israel continue to reserve punitive damages for such extraordinary cases or if this is the beginning of a more "American" system of compensation.