Русско-англо-русский юридический словарь

Penal damages are liquidated damages which exceed reasonable compensatory damages, making them invalid under common law. While liquidated damage clauses set a pre-agreed value on the expected loss to one party if the other party were to breach the contract, penal damages go further and seek to penalise the breaching party beyond the reasonable losses from the breach. Many clauses which are found to be penal are expressed as liquidated damages clauses but are seen by courts as excessive and thus invalid. (Wikipedia)

In Chinese private law theories, penalty is divided into two categories, namely, 'compensatory penalty' and 'punitive penalty'. The former penalty aims at fixing in advance the damages payable in the event of default. (Towards a Chinese Civil Code: Comparative and Historical Perspectives)