Judicial Review in the UK and the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Judicial Review in the UK and the USA - Essay Example Judicial review was exercised even before that Constitutional Convention in several states. This is seen in respect of the fact that at least seven of 13 states had experienced the invalidation of their statutes on the grounds that that they violated the higher law or the constitution in one way or another. Hayburn's Case (1792) is one case that saw judicial review in practice as the court held the decision of Congress regarding pension applications unconstitutional. Hylton v. United States (1796) as decided by the US Supreme Court also saw Congress challenged in a matter relating to direct taxes. The Judiciary Act (Section 13) that establishes the US judicial courts gives the Supreme Court the authority to "to issue writs of mandamus, in cases warranted by the principles and usages of law, to any courts appointed, or persons holding office, under the authority of the United States" .Components of Judicial ReviewFor a higher law to be applied effectively, the ruler having constraint in making decisions, there needs to be a set of procedures through which the regulations can be translated into practical actions.   The procedures afore mentioned encompass the codification of the law in a manner that is legally cognizable in terms of language used, reliance on a competent institution to make interpretations of the regulations as well as the existence of a social agreement that the rulings made by the institution that interprets the regulations are supreme and must therefore be upheld. In simple terms judicial review demands three basic elements to be functional in the modern world; the existence of written law or a constitution, the existence of a competent institution (court) to interpret the law and finally respect for the ruling in respect of its