The Judicial Review Controversy: Marbury v. Madison and Its Manifestations in the Israel Constitutional Revolution

Abstract

On February 24, 1803, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down one of the most important decisions in American constitutional history. The decision, Marbury v. Madison, greatly clarified the jurisdiction of the three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial. This paper tracks the influences of the Marbury decision in Israeli constitutional law and the various contexts in which the Israeli Supreme Court has cited Marbury in its rulings. In so doing, this paper conducts a comparative analysis of the Marbury decision and Israeli Supreme Court decisions citing it. To date, Marbury has been cited by the Israeli Supreme Court in seven of its decisions. This paper will focus on two of these instances. The main legal issues put before the court in those two decisions are among the most fundamental issues on which Israeli democracy is based, as is any legal system or form of government striving to build a liberal constitutional democracy: the principles of separation of powers and judicial review of laws enacted by the legislature.

Keywords: Judicial Review, Israeli Constitutional Law