Judicial Review- A Comparative Approach

According to Hans Kelson, the Constitution is the basic framework of a country that legitimises all other actions of the government. It is this Supreme law of the land that forms the basis for the concept of Judicial review. Any law that conflicts with this supreme law is deemed unlawful and void. The Court is crucial in deciding the impact of the constitutionality of legislative and executive actions taken by the federal and state governments. This paper seeks to shed light on the philosophical underpinnings of Judicial review tracing back the origins of such a doctrine. The system of Judicial review has frequently been referred to as a particularly an American institution. This paper by employing a comparative approach analysing the systems of US, UK and India, seeks to explore the current theories of judicial decision-making in each system and the effects these theories have on the court system in general, and on judicial lawmaking in particular.