What are treble damages?

Treble damages refer to a legal provision where a court awards a plaintiff three times the amount of the actual damages suffered. This is typically used as a punitive measure to discourage certain wrongful behaviors and is often applicable in cases involving statutory violations, such as antitrust laws or consumer protection laws. By multiplying the awarded damages by three, treble damages serve both to compensate the injured party and to provide a deterrent effect against the defendant and others from engaging in similar misconduct.

In this context, while compensatory damages, punitive damages, and fixed amounts for specific harms may serve different purposes within the legal framework, treble damages specifically denote the tripling of actual damages as a means of enforcing compliance and punishing wrongdoing.