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WIKIPEDIA
“Ihe Free Encyclopedia
Judicial review
Judicial review is a process under
which executive, legislative and
administrative actions are subject to
review by the judiciary.79 A court with
authority for judicial review may
invalidate laws, acts and governmental
actions that are incompatible with a
higher authority: an executive decision
may be invalidated for being unlawful or
a statute may be invalidated for violating
the terms of a constitution, Judicial The High Court of Australia, Under the Constitution of Austral
review is one of the checks and balances judiciary forms part of the separation of powers, with executive or
in the separation of powers: the power of legislative actions subject to review by the judiciary. Laws, acts and
the judiciary to supervise the legislative governmental actions that are incompatible with a higher authority
and executive branches when the latter (60 the Constitution) can be reviewed and overturned
exceed their authority. The doctrine
varies between jurisdictions, so the
procedure and scope of judicial review may differ between and within countries.
General principles
Judicial review can be understood in the context of two distinet—but parallel—legal systems, civil law
and common law, and also by two distinct theories of democracy regarding the manner in which
government should be organized with respect to the principles and doctrines of legislative supremacy
and the separation of powers.
First, two distinct legal systems, civil law and common law, have different views about judicial review.
Common-law judges are seen as sources of law, capable of creating new legal principles, and also
capable of rejecting legal principles that are no longer valid. In the civil-law tradition, judges are seen
as those who apply the law, with no power to create (or destroy) legal principles.
Secondly, the idea of separation of powers is another theory about how a democratic society's
government should be organized. In contrast to legislative supremacy, the idea of separation of
powers was first introduced by Montesquieu;(*! it was later institutionalized in the United States by
the Supreme Court's ruling in Marbury v. Madison that the court had the power of judicial review to
enforce the separation of powers stated in the US Constitution. This was left uncontested by the U.S.
Congress and president Thomas Jefferson, despite his expressed opposition to the principle of judicial
review by an unelected body.
Separation of powers is based on the idea that no branch of government should be able to exert power
over any other branch without due process of law; each branch of government should have a check on
the powers of the other branches of government, thus creating a regulative balance among allbranches of government. ‘The key to this idea is checks and balances. In the United States, judicial
review is considered a key check on the powers of the other two branches of government by the
judiciary.
Differences in organizing democratic societies led to different views regarding judicial review, with
societies based on common law and those stressing a separation of powers being the most likely to
ilize judicial review. Nevertheless, many countries whose legal systems are based on the idea of
legislative supremacy have gradually adopted or expanded the scope of judicial review, including
countries from both the civil law and common law traditions.
Another reason why judicial review should be understood in the context of both the development of
two distinet legal systems (civil law and common law) and two theories of democracy (legislative
supremacy and separation of powers) is that some countries with common-law systems do not have
judicial review of primary legislation. Though a common-law system is present in the United
Kingdom, the country still has a strong attachment to the idea of legislative supremacy; consequently,
judges in the United Kingdom do not have the power to strike down primary legislation. However,
when the United Kingdom became a member of the European Union there was tension between its
tendency toward legislative supremacy and the EU's legal system, which specifically gives the Court of
Justice of the European Union the power of judicial review.
Principles of review
When carrying out judicial review a court may ensure that the principle of ultra vires are followed,
that a public body's actions do not exceed the powers given to them by legislation.
The decisions of administrative acts by public bodies under judicial review are not necessarily
controlled in the same way that judicial decisions are, rather a court will enforce that principles of
procedural fairness are followed when making judicial decisions.(!'38
Types
Review of administrative acts and secondary legislation
Most modern legal systems allow the courts to review administrative "acts" (individual decisions of a
public body, such as a decision to grant a subsidy or to withdraw a residence permit). In most
systems, this also includes review of secondary legislation (legally enforceable rules of general
applicability adopted by administrative bodies). Some countries (notably France and Germany) have
implemented a system of administrative courts which are charged with resolving disputes between
members of the public and the administration, regardless these courts are part of administration
(France) or judiciary (Germany). In other countries (including the United States and United
Kingdom), judicial review is carried out by regular civil courts although it may be delegated to
specialized panels within these courts (such as the Administrative Court within the High Court of
England and Wales). The United States employs a mixed system in which some administrative
decisions are reviewed by the United States district courts (which are the general trial courts), some
are reviewed directly by the United States courts of appeals and others are reviewed by specialized
tribunals such as the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (which, despite its name, is
not technically part of the federal judicial branch). It is quite common that before a request forjudicial review of an administrative act is filed with a court, certain preliminary conditions (such as a
complaint to the authority itself) must be fulfilled. In most countries, the courts apply special
procedures in administrative cases.
Review of primary legislation
There are three broad approaches to judicial review of the constitutionality of primary legislation—
that is, laws passed directly by an elected legislature.
No review by any courts
Some countries do not permit a review of the validity of primary legislation. In the United Kingdom,
‘Acts of Parliament cannot be set aside under the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty, whereas
Orders in Couneil, another type of primary legislation not passed by Parliament, can (see Council of
Civil Service Unions v Minister for the Civil Service (1985) and Miller/Cherry (2019). Another
example is the Netherlands, where the constitution expressly forbids the courts to rule on the
question of constitutionality of primary legislation passed by the Dutch legislature or States-
General {31
Review by general courts
In countries which have inherited the English common law system of courts of general jurisdiction,
judicial review is generally done by those courts, rather than specialised courts. Australia, Canada and
the United States are all examples of this approach.
In the United States, federal and state courts (at all levels, both appellate and trial) are able to review
and declare the "constitutionality", or agreement with the Constitution (or lack thereof) of legislation
by a process of judicial interpretation that is relevant to any case properly within their jurisdiction. In
American legal language, "judicial review" refers primarily to the adjudication of the constitutionality
of statutes, especially by the Supreme Court of the United States. Courts in the United States may also
invoke judicial review in order to ensure that a statute is not depriving individuals of their
constitutional rights.'4! This is commonly held to have been established in the case of Marbury v.
Madison, which was argued before the Supreme Court in 1803.
Judicial review in Canada and Australia pre-dates their establishment as countries, in 1867 and 1901,
respectively. The British Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 provided that a British colony could not
enact laws which altered provisions of British laws which applied directly to the colony. Since the
constitutions of Canada and Australia were enacted by the British Parliament, laws passed by
governments in Australia and Canada had to be consistent with those constitutional provisions. More
recently, the principle of judicial review flows from supremacy clauses in their constitutions.{5! In
Australia, the term ‘judicial review’ generally refers to reviews of the lawfulness of the actions of the
executive and the public service,!®! while reviews of the compatibility of laws with the Australian
Constitution is known as characterisation or constitutional challenges.!71
Review by a specialized courtIn 1920, Czechoslovakia adopted a system of judicial review by a specialized court, the Constitutional
Court as written by Hans Kelsen, a leading jurist of the time. This system was also adopted the same
time by Austria and became known as the Austrian System, also under the primary authorship of
Hans Kelsen, being emulated by a number of other countries. In these systems, other courts are not
competent to question the constitutionality of primary legislation; they often may, however, initiate
the process of review by the Constitutional Court.[8]
Russia adopts a mixed model since (as in the US) courts at all levels, both federal and state, are
empowered to review primary legislation and declare its constitutionality; as in the Czech Republic,
there is a constitutional court in charge of reviewing the constitutionality of primary legislation. The
difference is that in the first case, the decision about the law's adequacy to the Russian Constitution
only binds the parties to the lawsuit; in the second, the Court's decision must be followed by judges
and government officials at all levels.
By country
The below table compares the approach of different countries to constitutional review or judicial
review as of 2010.9)Constitutional
Constitutional
Court High Court Council z
33
Country = =
i gs § s (52/3
Bs Bs ds 35 3s 5 33.C
2 ¢ 53 3 33 3 2 3
ae dz 22 52 82 a2 82 2
sos Afghanistan none
vi co.
HB Abania oe
CN.
IE Algeria ey
co-
Bil Andorra EM
co.
Arcola ea
HC-
| Antigua and Barbuda
FE Antigua and Barbuda A
== argentina He
cc-
Bam Armenia ce
Gi Australia other
— cc.
usta oe
co-
Hi Azerbaijan eM
= Bahamas he
‘Wi Bahrain none
[i Bangladesh aa
HC-
[El Barbados ae
co-
Mi Bolarus EM
HC-EM
HC-
AM
co-
EM
HC-
aNConstitutional
Constitutional
Court High Court Council z
53g
Cour = =
ney i g ls g | §2| 3
Bs Bs ds 35 3s 5 33.3
¢ £ 53 3 23 3 2 2
ae ge 42 22 G2 a2 82 2
cc-
IRB Bosnia and Herzegovina ce
= botswana aa
3 Brazil HC-MX
SS Brunei none
co-
mm Bulgaria EM
I Burkina Faso HC-EM
co-
5 Burundi EM
CN.
Cambodia on
Hl Cameroon HC-EM
[oI Canada HO-MX
cape Verde HO-MX
SE Central African Republic oe
[ll chaa HC-EM
co-
Bes Chile EM
[il People's Republic of China (PRC) none
7 co:
i Colombia ied
CN.
See Comoros fe
[B Democratic Republic of the Congo HC-EM
WEA Republic of the Congo other
= Costa Rica HC-EM.
cc.
== Croatia ce
= Cuba none
HC-
© Cyprus Hc
cc-
|Gzech Republic
Deer Czech Republic seConstitutional i Constitutional
Court High Court Council z
53g
Cour 2 =
my 5 5 8 gs §8 3
Bs Bs ds 35 3s 5 33.C
2 28 32 23 23 82 #8 2
as bz 22 32 £2 G2 82 2
HC-
Denmark He
cn
$a Djbout on
BBB Dominica ye
He.
Dominican Republic
= Dominican Republ aa
Ba East Timor
cc-
HE Ecuador ce
co.
=
= Enypt EM
El Salvador HC-MX
co.
Equatorial Guinea
EE Equatorial Gui on
BE Eritrea HC-EM
HC-
Hi Estonia He
BIE Ethiopia other
other
other
cn
FM
cc.
—M
He.
aM
HC.
AM
co.
EM
HC-
AM
HC-MX
Ea Grenada aaConstitutional i Constitutional
Court High Court Council z
53g
Country = =
5 5 8 gs §8 3
Bs Bs ds 35 3s 5 33.C
g 83 53 23 22 82 Ef 3
ae ge 42 22 G2 a2 82 2
[ell Guatemala
[Nl Guinea aa
EE Guinea-Bissau none
BES Guyana aa
Edit aw
‘SS Honduras HC-MX
EE Hong Kong other
— cc-
= Hungar EM
1H Iceland HC-EM
, He.
SE india Ad
Indonesia HC-MX
= CN.
Sen fu
none
HC-
AM
israel HC
co.
EBay ce
CN.
I Bivory Coast fu
ES Jamaica ne
HC-
@ Japan ~”M
I= Jordan
CN.
ml Kazakhstan cn
EB Kenya neConstitutional
‘Court High Court z
33
Country 3 3
5 5 8 fe | 3
i i fs gz i 33.3
s3 3 23 £8 83 §3 22 ¢
as ge £2 32 £2 G2 S= 2
fem Kina wo.
El Kosovo
EE Kuwait none.
cc-
EE Kyrgyzstan em
EE Laos none
= co.
Latvia se
TE Lebanon
=F Lesotho none
Liberia none
EB Livya none
Hil Liechtenstein
cc.
ime Lithuania se
— co
= Luxembour em
cc-
BE Macedonia Se
cc-
[Bi Madagascar Em
Masaya uo.
HC-
Hi Malawi He
Ei Maldives none
co:
El var a
cc-
Bata ce
Ho:
Marshall Islands: AM
BE Mauritania
ES Mauritius
otherConstitutional i Constitutional
Court High Court Council z
5B
Cour 2 =
my 5 5 8 gs §8 3
Bs Bs ds 35 3s 5 33.C
£ £3 58 23 22 88 Be 3
ag ge 42 22 G2 a2 82 2
HC-
AM
He.
AM
cc.
Tl Moldova cc
™™ Monaco HO-EM
Il Mongotia ce
cc-
HE Montenegro oe
cn.
Hl Morocco on
N-
FS Mozambique cn
EEE Myanmar other
He.
Bi Namibia He
HC-
BE Nepal ke
= Netherlands none
ial New Zealand ge
= Nicaragua HC-EM
ZENiger HC-EM
HC.
H ENigeria he
im North Korea (DPRK) none
HE Norway ne
lex Oman none
TE Pakistan other
[Ol Palau ne
Panama HC-EM
HB Papua New Guinea veConstitutional i Constitutional
Court High Court Council z
53g
Country 5 gs § gs §8 3
as fs ds zz 3 i 2303
£ e$ 38 22 G2 82 #8 2
ag ge 22 32 &3 Gz 52 2
Paraguay HC-EM.
co.
Mx
Philippines HC-EM
cc-
mm Poland oe
ce.
EE Portugal wx
mm Qatar none
, co.
Hl Romania gc
cc.
as Russi ce
co.
Rwanda em
Ei Saint Kitts and Nevis ve
(1a Saint Lucia ne
He.
[2 Saint vincent and the Grenadines AM
Hm Samoa He
co.
San Marino em
EEE Sao Tomé and Principe other
EB sauci Arabia none
[El Senegal aN
cc.
HIB serbia cc
Ho.
B® Seychelles AM
= Sierra Leone a
Sm singapore aConstitutional i Constitutional
Court High Court Council z
5B 8
Cour 2 =
my 5 8 gs § 3
Bs ds 2 3 3 5 33.C
3 32 8 28 88 523
ge 22 32 &2 G2 62 2
co.
EM
Hid Solomon Islands fe
[Ell Somalia
ce.
BE south attica cc
‘© cc.
{0 South Korea oe
I south Sudan
cc.
HE spain ce
; co.
MGI Sri Lanka EM
He-EM
cc-
EM
EE Swaziland ne
HEE Sweden we
‘Switzerland Ho-Mx
cc.
Syria EM
Hi Taiwan (Republic of China, ROC) HC-MX
Tajikistan va
PF Tanzania aa
= co.
= Thailand cc.
co.
[BB Togo EM
HC-
AMConstitutional
Court
Constitutional
High Court Cutie
Country
Other form or
limited review
No judicial review
European
Model
Mixed
Model
Mixed
Model
= American
Model
23
BSN Trinidad and Tobago
Te tunisia hone
cc.
TE Turkey £6
Hil Turkmenistan none
EE Tuvalu ue.
HEB Uganda HC-EM
cc-
BE Ukraine ge
I United Arab Emirates other
33 United Kingdom other
Hc-
= United States AM
Uruguay HC-EM
— cc.
S Uzbekistan Em
BB Vanuatu
Vatican city none
Hi Venezucla HO-Mx
EE Vienam none
=vemen HO-EM
Hi Zambia He-EM
Se Zimbabwe other
In specific jurisdictions
= Australian administrative law § Judicial review
Judicial review in Austria
Judicial review in Bangladesh
Judicial review in Canada
Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic
Judicial review in Denmark= Judicial review in English law
= Judicial review in Germany
= Judicial review in Hong Kong
= Judicial review in India
= Judicial review in Ireland
= Judicial review in Malaysia
= Judicial review in New Zealand
= Judicial review in the Philippines
= Judicial review in Scotland
= Judicial review in South Aftica
= Judicial review in South Korea
= Judicial review in Sweden
= Judicial review in Switzerland
= Judicial Yuan (Taiwan / Republic of China)
«= Judicial review in the United States
See also
Judicial Appeal
Judicial activism
Living Constitution
Originalism
Unconstitutional constitutional amendment
References
1. Elliott, Mark (2001). The constitutional foundations of judicial review (https:/Awww.worldcat.org/oc!
/191746889), Oxford [England]: Hart Pub. ISBN 978-1-84731-051-4. OCLC 191746889 (https:/w
ww worldcat org/ocic!191746889)
2. Montesquieu, Baron Charles de, The Spirit of the Laws
3. Article 120 of the Netherlands Constitution (http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0001840/geldigheidsd
atum_28-07-2014#Hoofdstuk6_Artikel120)
4, ESKRIDGE ET AL., supra note 532, at 1207 (“Presumption in favor of judicial review."); id.(“Rule
against interpreting statutes to deny a right to jury trial."); id.(“Super-strong rule against implied
congressional abrogation or repeal of habeas corpus."); id. at 1208 ("Presumption against
exhaustion of remedies requirement for lawsuit to enforce constitutional rights.
that judgements will not be binding upon persons not party to adjudication."); id. (“Presumption
against foreclosure of private enforcement of important federal rights.”). See, e.g., Demote v.
Hyung Joon Kim, 538 U.S. 510, 517 (2003). But see SCALIA & GARNER, supra note 532, at 367
(describing as a “false notion” the idea “that a statute cannot oust courts of jurisdiction unless it
does so expressly’).
5, Australian Communist Party v Commonwealth (1951) 83 CLR 1 AustLl (http:/Awww.austli.edu.au/
au/cases/cth/HCA/1951/5.htm!)
6. Parliamentary Education Office. "What is judicial review?" (https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parli
ament/your-questions-on-notice/questions/what-is-judicial-review/). Parliamentary Education
Office. Retrieved 9 March 2023.7. Keyzer, Patrick; Goff, Christopher; Fisher, Asaf (23 December 2016). Principles of Australian
Constitutional Law (5th ed.). Australia: LexisNexis Butterworths. p. 36. ISBN 9780409341959
8. The strength of the combination Government - Parliament ... far from outperform the reasons of
the Constitutional scrutiny, makes the judicial review more necessary than ever: Buonomo,
Giampiero (2006). "Peculato d'uso: perché il condannato non puéd fare il Sindaco. Dalla Consulta
“no” ai DI senza necesita e urgenza” (htips://web.archive.org/web/20120801002834/http:/mww.q
uestia.com/projects#l/project/89404092). Dirilto&Giustizia Edizione Online. Archived from the
original (https://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89404092) on 2012-08-01. Retrieved
2016-04-09.
9. "Dr. Ame Mavéié. (2010). A Tabular Presentation of Constitutional/Judicial Review Around the
World” (http:/Avww.concourts.net/tab/tab1 php ?ing=en&stat=0&prt=0&srt=0). concouris.net
Retrieved 2022-05-10.
Further reading
= Edward S. Corwin, The Doctrine of Judicial Review: Its Legal and Historical Basis and Other
Essays. Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2014.
= R.L. Maddex, Constitutions of the World, Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-87289-
556-0.
External links
= Judicial Review: A Legal Guide (https://web archive orghveb/20131029210018/http://a4id.org/site
sidefaultfiles/user/Judicial%20Review. pdf)
= Corrado, Michael Louis (2005). Comparative Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials (https://boo
ks.google.com/books?id=5_OPAAAAMAAJ&q=%22comparative+judicial%22+vetotreview+supre
macy+control). ISBN 0-89089-710-7. (Country by country case studies)
= N. Jayapalan (1999). Modern Governments (https://books.google.com/books?id=V_iw2ZSPQbQC
&q=comparativejudicial+vetotreview*supremacy+control&pg=PA86). Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors, ISBN 978-81-7156-837-6. (A comparison of modem constitutions)
= Beatty, David M (1994). Human rights and judicial review (https://books.google.com/books?id=N_
UjZarvAwYC&q=comparative+%22constitutional+review%22&pg=PA135). Martinus Nijhoff
Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7923-2968-8. (A comparison of national judicial review doctrines)
= Wolfe, Christopher (1994). The American doctrine of judicial supremacy (https://books.google.co
mibooks?id=Kev8w 1 pinaUC&q=judicial+review&pg=PA3). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-
8226-3026-5. (This book traces the doctrine's history in an international/comparative fashion)
= Vanberg, Georg (2005). "Constitutional Review in Comparative Perspective". The politics of
constitutional review in Germany. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-83647-0. (The
effects of politics in law in Germany)
= Galera, S. (ed.), Judicial Review. A Comparative Analysis inside the European Legal System,
Council of Europe, 2010, ISBN 978-92-871-6723-1, [1] (https://web.archive.orghweb/20061122080
732/http://book.coe.int/EN/ficheouvrage.php?PAGEID=36)
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