Judicial review owes its popularity primarily to the judgment rendered in the Marbury v. Madison case, which gave American courts the power to strike down laws, statutes, and certain government actions that were viewed to violate the Constitution. Although today there is no doubt that the Supreme Court not only has such power but also uses it, we will not find a rule in the US Constitution that in explicit terms (expressis verbis) gives it such powers. The origin of this transfer of power may arouse much controversy due to the context of Judge Marshall’s judgment. The paper presents the problems of systematizing the role of judicial review in the tradition of American judiciary, primarily by analyzing the first judgements of the Supreme Court as well as the political background associated with the struggle for influence between federalists and anti-federalists. 

Received 08 December 2019. Revised 27 December 2019. Accepted 31 December 2019. Published online 07 January 2020

Judicial review, Supreme Court, Marbury v. Madison case, Institutional balance,

http://dx.doi.org/10.26106/XRBP-XD61