Judicial review
This was left uncontested by the U.S. Congress and president Thomas Jefferson, despite his expressed opposition to the principle of judicial review by an unelected body.
In the United States, judicial review is considered a key check on the powers of the other two branches of government by the judiciary.
Another reason why judicial review should be understood in the context of both the development of two distinct legal systems (civil law and common law) and two theories of democracy (legislative supremacy and separation of powers) is that some countries with common-law systems do not have judicial review of primary legislation.
When carrying out judicial review a court may ensure that the principle of ultra vires are followed, that a public body's actions do not exceed the powers given to them by legislation.
In most systems, this also includes review of secondary legislation (legally enforceable rules of general applicability adopted by administrative bodies).
It is quite common that before a request for judicial review of an administrative act is filed with a court, certain preliminary conditions (such as a complaint to the authority itself) must be fulfilled.
There are three broad approaches to judicial review of the constitutionality of primary legislation—that is, laws passed directly by an elected legislature.
In American legal language, "judicial review" refers primarily to the adjudication of the constitutionality of statutes, especially by the Supreme Court of the United States.
Courts in the United States may also invoke judicial review in order to ensure that a statute is not depriving individuals of their constitutional rights.
However, "the American version of judicial review was the logical result of centuries of European thought and colonial experience which had made Western [societies] generally willing to admit the theoretical primacy of certain kinds of law and had made Americans in particular ready to provide a judicial means of enforcing that primacy.
"[10]: 1020 That is, the "belief in the need to subordinate certain acts of the law-making power to higher, more permanent principles"[10]: 1021 can be seen, for example, in medieval European scholastics, courts of equity in England, Parlements in France, and Enlightenment philosophers.
