Judicial Review
Introduction
The U.S. case Marbury v. Madison (1803) held that the power of a court to decide what is the meaning of the American Constitution was implicit in an independent judiciary. This power of judicial review in the U.S. was a unique feature of the U.S. constitutionalism well into the 20th century. By the end of the XX century, almost every constitutional democracy in the world had adopted judicial review in any form. Several common law jurisdictions, following the U.S. model, allowed all judges, not only special constitutional courts, to decide constitutional issues subject to final review by their highest appellate courts. Among the world’s most notable constitutional tribunals, apart from the United States, are the constitutional courts of and Hungary, Germany and Italy (in Europe) and South Africa, together with the highest appellate courts of countries such as Australia, Canada, India and Japan.
Initially, because there were near a lack of precedents to use to interpret their constitutions, several European and Commonwealth high courts turned to the United States experience and background for guidance in shaping their own civil rights law. Aharon Barak, president of Israel‘s Supreme Court, said “We foreign jurists all look to developments in the United States as a source of inspiration.”(2003)
For example, the Hungarian and South African constitutional courts, after some differences with the U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoning in Gregg v. Georgia (1976) and other related cases, held that the death penalty constituted degrading and inhuman treatment, and it was in violation of the principle of human dignity. The European Court of Human Rights came to a like conclusion in Soering v. United Kingdom, 1989, after its analysis of the death cases in Virginia.
Similarly, in several homosexual sodomy cases, the European Court of Human Rights and several courts (non-U.S.), declined to follow the lead of the 1972 American case Bowers v. Hardwick. However, in 2003, when the Lawrence v. Texas case overruled Bowers v. Hardwick, the majority opinion, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, cited several decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in support of its statement about the unconstitutionalism of criminal sodomy laws.
Judicial Review in Other Countries (not in the U.S)
Introduction to Judicial Review
Judicial review is used in most other countries with federal systems (political systems that consist of both regional and central governments), including Australia, Canada, and Switzerland. However, the courts of these countries do not exercise the power as actively as do those in the United States. The Canadian Supreme Court can review legislative enactments, but the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms specifically authorizes Parliament and the provincial legislatures of Canada to override some of its provisions. Certain countries with nonfederal systems, such as Norway, Ireland, Israel, and Japan, permit judicial review. After World War II (1939-1945), Germany and Italy adopted constitutions that borrowed judicial review from the U.S. system, and their highest courts actively review legislation. After dismantling their communist political systems during the 1990s, many eastern European countries have developed legal systems that provide for expansive judicial review. In Hungary, for example, the constitutional court may hear abstract constitutional questions submitted by any citizen, who need not have a personal stake in a case.
In England the final authority on constitutional questions is the legislative body (Parliament), not the courts. This is also true in most other western European nations, such as France, Belgium and the Netherlands. In much of the Islamic world, judicial review as understood in the West does not exist. In many Islamic countries, religious leaders have the final word on whether the law conforms to religious requirements.” (1)
Judicial Review
References
See Also
- Administrative Law
- Judicial Review
Concept of Judicial Review
Note: explore also the meaning of this legal term in the American Ecyclopedia of Law.
Concept of Judicial Review
Note: explore also the meaning of this legal term in the American Ecyclopedia of Law.
Marbury v Madison Case (US)
In relation to the marbury v madison case (United States) and constitutional law, Sam Kalen[1] made the following observation: Perhaps no decision in American law is more famous than Chief Justice Marshall’s opinion in Marbury v Madison (Marbury) decided in 1803. It has since become the iconic opinion establishing the ability of the Supreme Court of the United States to review the constitutionality of statutes passed by the US Congress, and it is one of the Court’s first forays into the judiciary’s function in reviewing actions by the executive branch (judicial review; powers and jurisdiction of constitutional courts/supreme courts). (…)
Judicial Review
Embracing mainstream international law, this section on judicial review explores the context, history and effect of the area of the law covered here.
Introduction
Judicial Review
This entry provides an overview of the legal framework of judicial review, with a description of the most significant features of judicial review at international level.
Related Work and Conclusions
Judicial Review
Resources
See Also
- Judiciary
Resources
See Also
- Constitution
- Federalism
Resources
See Also
- Administrative Law
- Judicial Review
Resources
See Also
- Appeal
Resources
See Also
References (Papers)
- Stare Decisis And The Judicial Process, Edward D. Re, Apr 2017
- May It Please The Court?: The Perils Of Correcting A Justice’s Pronunciation, James J. Duane, Apr 2017
- It’S Time For An Intervention!: Resolving The Conflict Between Rule 24(A)(2) And Article Iii Standing, Gregory R. Manring, Apr 2017
- The New Front In The Clean Air Wars: Fossil-Fuel Influence Over State Attorneys General- And How It Might Be Checked, Eli Savit, Apr 2017
- The Crushing Of A Dream: Daca, Dapa And The Politics Of Immigration Law Under President Obama, Robert H. Wood, Mar 2017
- The Robert L. Levine Distinguished Lecture: A Conversation With Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg And Professor Aaron Saiger, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Aaron Saiger, Mar 2017
Resources
Further Reading
- The entry “judicial review” in the Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (currently, the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law, 2009), Oxford University Press
Resources
Notes and References
- Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law, Sam Kalen, “Marbury v Madison Case (United States)” (2018, Germany, United Kingdom)
See Also
- Judicial review of legislation
- Court Powers
- Court Jurisdiction
- Judicial independence
- Judicial review
- Federal judicial systems
Resources
Notes and References
- Information about Judicial Review in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia
Guide to Judicial Review
The Legal History of Judicial Review in Islamic law
This section provides an overview of Judicial Review Islamic law
Resources
See Also
- Legal Biography
- Legal Traditions
- Historical Laws
- History of Law
Further Reading
- Judicial Review Islamic law in the Oxford International Encyclopedia of Legal History (Oxford University Press)
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History (Oxford University Press)
- Judicial Review Islamic law in the Dictionary of Concepts in History, by Harry Ritter
- A Short History of Western Legal Theory, by John Kelly
Judicial Review and the GATT Policy Negotiations
In relation to the GATT Policy Negotiations, Christopher Mark (1993) provided the following explanation and/or definition of Judicial Review: In unfair trade cases, a mechanism for parties to a case to appeal a finding of subsidization, dumping, or injury to a court of law in the importing country.
Hierarchical Display of Judicial review
Law > Justice > Judicial proceedings
Judicial review
Concept of Judicial review
See the dictionary definition of Judicial review.
Characteristics of Judicial review
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Resources
Translation of Judicial review
- Spanish: Control jurisdiccional
- French: Contrôle juridictionnel
- German: Normenkontrolle
- Italian: Sindacato giurisdizionale
- Portuguese: Controlo jurisdicional
- Polish: Rewizja
Thesaurus of Judicial review
Law > Justice > Judicial proceedings > Judicial review
See also
- Community decision
- Decision of the European Central Bank
- Commission Decision
- Council Decision
- European Council decision
- Decision of the European Council
- Decision of the European Parliament
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