摘要： 违约金酌减规则是应对违约金数额过高而产生的特殊规则，其实质是赋予法官对合同自由进行等价有偿的干预。酌减规则是针对惩罚性违约金数额与其所担保的利益不等价而设计的制度，只适用于惩罚性违约金，而不应适用于赔偿性违约金。违约金酌减以违约金约定有效成立、违约金请求权已经发生效力并继续保持效力为构成前提。在债务人主张违约金过高的情况下，法院须根据债务人提供的事实予以判断，而在判断违约金数额是否过高时，应抛弃以实际损失为基点的模式，而应考虑债权人基于合同可以享有的所有利益，具体根据违约情况、违约结果、债务人利益以及合同损害继续发展的状况综合衡量违约金数额是否过高。

关键词: 违约金, 赔偿性违约金, 惩罚性违约金, 担保性违约金, 违约金酌减

Abstract: The appropriate reduction of penalty follows special rules aiming at adjusting its amount when it’s toohigh. The essence is to give the judges the power to intervene in the freedom of contract based on the equivalent exchange principles，for the appropriate reduction of rules are designed to deal with the unbalance between the amount of penalty and its guaranteed interests. Accordingly，they should only be applied to punitive damages instead of liquidate ones. The preliminary conditions of applying these rules are as follows：theagreement of the penalty should be made and valid，and the claim of the right has already been made andthe claim continues to be effective and its amount is too high. Whether the amount of the penalty is too highshould not base on actual losses of the creditor, instead，with all creditor’s interests being included，Itshould be weighed in consideration of the specific situation and results of contractual breach，benefits of obligators and the further developing possibilities of contractual damages.

Key words: Penalty, Liquidated Damage, Punitive Penalty, Appropriate Reduction of Penalty