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Since the law of 1 July 1972 against racism, the juridical apparatus relative to discrimination has continued to acquire new provisions, extending the list of unlawful acts and illegitimate grounds for discrimination. This now appears to be complete. On its own, however, it does not constitute an anti-discrimination policy; for we should not forget the limits of this tool. Yet for close on thirty years the public authorities relied solely on action in the field of law to combat practices that were known to be widespread. This over-confidence in this instrument helped to mask the scale of the phenomenon. Only at the end of the twentieth century did discriminatory practices finally acquire an authentic social visibility and elicit a response from the authorities that was not yet another intervention by the legislator. The law has nonetheless played an undeniable role in the construction of discrimination. Particularly important in this respect is the work of the EU judges regarding gender equality, where an original approach has allowed the emergence of the notion of indirect discrimination and redefined the burden of proof. It has also set limits to positive action.