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Foreign Courts

U.S. punitive damages in German courts

September 20, 2011

The Federal Supreme Court of Germany held in 1992 that U.S. punitive damages awards are unenforceable in Germany because they violate the “ordre public” – – the fundamental values of Germany’s justice system.  The Federal Supreme Court got it wrong, according to this article by Madeleine Tolani (U.S. Damages Before German Courts: A Comparative Analysis with Respect to the Ordre Public).

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