Judicial Review

Definition of Judicial Review

Note: See a more comprehensive approach to the Judicial Review legal concept in the American Law Encyclopedia

The power of courts to examine governmental actions to determine whether they are within constitutional limits. Judicial review varies depending upon whose actions are under review. One situation involves review of administrative actions. Such review is both common and relatively limited in policy impact. Two more significant types of review were cultivated by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall in the early 1800s. The first involves the Supreme Court's role as arbiter of the federal-state relationship. This kind of review allows the courts of the national government to review actions of the constituent states and invalidate those that collide with national authority or interfere with other states. The power to perform this kind of review can be derived from the Supremacy Clause of Article VI of the U.S. Constitution and the Judiciary Act of 1789 (see) . The other significant kind of judicial review involves judicial capacity to review actions of coordinate branches. Such a power carries the potential of placing the courts in a position of policy dominance. The argument for such a power is that the integrity of the Constitution must be safeguarded from actions that conflict with it. Judicial review is not mentioned in the Constitution, although it was debated at length by the framers.

See Also

Judicial Activism (Judicial Function) Judicial Self-Restraint (Judicial Function) Statutory Construction (Judicial Function).

Resources

Judicial Review Related Resources

• Judicial Review in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
• Judicial Function Keywords in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
• Judicial Function Keywords in the International Legal Dictionary

Notes

• “Judicial Review”, The American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Judicial Review (Judicial Function)

Judicial Review

There is an additional definition in the world law dictionary.

Resources

See Also

• Appeal