Judicial review

Not to be confused with Law review.
This article is about court power over non-judicial branches. For court power over lower courts, see Appellate review.
Administrative law
General principles
Grounds for judicial review
Administrative law in
common law jurisdictions
Administrative law in
civil law jurisdictions
Related topics
The High Court of Australia. Under the Constitution of Australia, the judiciary forms part of the separation of powers, with executive or legislative actions subject to review by the judiciary. Laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompatible with a higher authority (e.g. the Constitution) can be reviewed and overturned.

Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary.[1]: 79  In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are incompatible with a higher authority. For example, an executive decision may be invalidated for being unlawful, or a statute may be invalidated for violating the terms of a constitution. Judicial review is one of the checks and balances in the separation of powers—the power of the judiciary to supervise (judicial supervision) the legislative and executive branches when the latter exceed their authority. The doctrine varies between jurisdictions, so the procedure and scope of judicial review may differ between and within countries.

  1. ^ Elliott, Mark (2001). The constitutional foundations of judicial review. Oxford [England]: Hart Pub. ISBN 978-1-84731-051-4. OCLC 191746889.