Judge Bunton, ruling on a discrimination lawsuit brought in El Paso by most of the bureau's 439 Hispanic agents, said he would order remedies after a court hearing on the issue.

The court could have ordered immediate financial remedies as it did in 1990, when it told the state it had to spend at least $500 million to achieve parity between rich and poor school districts.

If he finds the state's efforts inadequate, he could order remedies.

Under the contest procedures, a court could order various remedies, the Gore lawyers noted, including compulsory recounts under supervision of a special master, which would take more time.

For six years the Reagan Administration has insisted that courts cannot order race-conscious remedies even where efforts to correct discrimination have met with steady resistance.

In 1985, Judge Sand found Yonkers liable for 40 years of segregation in housing and education, and he ordered remedies.

While retaining jurisdiction over the case, the court may determine that it will not order further remedies in areas where the school district is in compliance with the decree.

He had one suggestion for the Government: that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which investigates accusations of discrimination in the workplace, be given broader powers to order remedies for those who are found to have suffered discrimination.

In all three jurisdictions the authorities can, and do, seek binding undertakings from firms in respect of their market conduct, and can order structural remedies (either formally or as a result of negotiations with the firms involved).

Finally, we have argued that an appropriate institutional design must involve giving the competition authorities real 'teeth' to fine firms for abuses of market power, and to order structural remedies or regulation where the circumstances warrant such action.