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Constitutional Law

Judicial Branch

Is judicial review an American invention?

No, judicial review clearly can be traced to the English system of common law. In 1610 English jurist Sir Edward Coke wrote: “when an act of Parliament is against common right and reason, or repugnant, or impossible to be performed, the Common Law will control it and adjudge such Act to be void.” Several statecourt jurists in early America also assumed the power of judicial review for the court.



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