Polynormativité et contrôle social du monde des affaires : l’exemple de l’interventionnisme et de la punitivité des juges du Tribunal de commerce de Paris

This paper explores the contemporary polynormativity of the social control of business. We look at the relationship between the professional origin of 151 lay judges at the Commercial Court of Paris (2005-2006) and the norms on which they rely to make discretionary judicial decisions. The judges’ work is approached indirectly, based on interviews managed as jurisprudential discussion of three specific cases involving damages awarded in unfair competition, breach of contract, and conflict between minority and majority shareholders. Firstly, variations are identified in the judges’ punitivity and interventionism with regard to conflicts in markets and in corporate governance. Secondly, strong differences emerge, for example, between judges coming from the financial industry and those from the building sector