The Scope of Judicial Review and the Rule of Law: Between Judicial Restraint and Judicial Activism

Abstract

It is helpful to study where the concept of judicial review came from. It has a very English origin that might be worth renewing on both sides of the Atlantic. Judicial review began its statutory life in England only in 1981, and then, in a peculiarly English way, it spoke via delegated legislation, the well-known Order 53 of the Rules of the Supreme Court. All Western liberal democracies, with their commitment to the Rule of Law, are based on similar constitutions, whether they are written or uncodified. The development of an English style of administrative law in the 1960s marked a clear case of judicial creativity. Judicial restraint is one of those familiar phrases that is full of meaning and in practice determines too little substance. It has its place, but needs to be used wisely. It depends on the emanation of the precise sense. Keywords: judicial activism; judicial restraint; judicial review; Rule of Law; Supreme Court