The “Globalization” of Judicial Review

Abstract

The leitmotif of much current legal discussion is “too much.” Certainly the current, global vogue in American-style, constitutional, judicial review contributes in a major way to the perception of increased judicial involvement in public policy. Constitutional judicial review may be the glamour trade, but if major transfer of policy making authority from elsewhere to courts has occurred, administrative judicial review rather than constitutional review is the far more likely vehicle of transfer. Transparency and participation themes obviously fueled the enormous growth of administrative law and administrative judicial review in the United States in the 70s and 80s. “Globalization” in reality usually means what is happening in the most developed countries. The difficulties of scientific and economic justification of bureaucratic decision are myriad because science and economics both promise and demand more than they can deliver.