Extending the Shadow of the Law: Using Hybrid Mechanisms to Develop Constitutional Norms in Socioeconomic Rights Cases

As a hybrid process that operates somewhere between pure ADR and pure adjudication—and, indeed oscillates between those extremes—engagement offers a novel and potentially important tool for enforcing socioeconomic rights. That tool falls somewhat short of the call by the Constitutional Courts’ critics for fullfledged judicial interpretation and enforcement, but the same features that make engagement something less than strong court enforcement also enhance its legitimacy.