This article explores the expressive dimension of procedural law, arguing that some procedural rules can be usefully understood as instruments of expression: they can express, or be employed to express, values, preferences and attitudes—independently of the economic incentives such rules create and regardless of the specific substantive law that governs the dispute. This is illustrated through two case studies that demonstrate how expressive considerations can underlie procedural rules, court decisions in relation to procedural matters and procedural choices that litigants make. The first is the requirement that litigants conduct civil proceedings in a diligent, honest and otherwise appropriate manner, which operates in part as an expressive norm, allowing courts to impose procedural sanctions as a way to condemn litigants’ behaviour. The second case study is the right to self-representation, which has been used by litigants in certain contexts as an act of protest against the legitimacy of the proceedings.

中文翻译：

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表达程序

本文探讨了程序法的表达维度，认为某些程序规则可以被有效地理解为表达工具：它们可以表达或被用来表达价值观、偏好和态度——独立于这些规则所创造的经济激励，也不管管辖争议的具体实体法。这可以通过两个案例研究来说明，这些案例研究表明表达性考虑如何成为程序规则、与程序事项相关的法院判决以及诉讼当事人做出的程序选择的基础。首先是要求诉讼当事人以勤勉、诚实和其他适当的方式进行民事诉讼，这在一定程度上作为一种表达性规范，允许法院实施程序制裁，作为谴责诉讼当事人行为的一种方式。