The True Foundation of Judicial Review- a View from Nigeria

Abstract

This article is a contribution to the debate on the true origins of judicial review. It argues that since most of the common law grounds of review had their origin in the principles of natural law, common law cannot be its true origin. It contends that the intention of the LegislaN,re - "directly" or otherwise - cannot be the foundation. Where the court cannot find justification in the constitution, particularly in countries with written constitutions, it should look far its source in the formal constitution. A constitution, though written, is a codification or thepositivization of unwritten norms. Britain has an unwritten constitution. Yet this does not mean that there are constitutional norms not known to people. In the author's view the power of the court to review executive or legislative actions must be traceable to the written or the formal constitution. This paper looks into how the judiciary came about its power of review of parliamentary