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Procedural Path Dependence: Discrimination And The Civil-Criminal Divide, Julie C. Suk

Julie C Suk

Procedural path dependence occurs when the particular features of the procedural system which has been charged with enforcing a given legal norm determine the substantive path of that legal norm. This article shows how the limits of employment discrimination law in two different national contexts can be explained by procedural dynamics. In France, as in several European countries, employment discrimination law is enforced predominantly in criminal proceedings. French criminal procedure enables the discovery of information necessary to proving the facts of discrimination, whereas the limited nature of French civil procedure makes it impossible for such information to be revealed. As …