Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Jan Malíř
Author’s affiliation:
Czech Academy of Sciences
Classical Political Question Doctrine in the Context of the Limits of Judicial Review in the USA
Jurisprudence 5/2018 Section: Articles Page: 15–29
Keywords: justiciability, USA, political question doctrine, evolution of classical doctrine, constitutional grounds, judicial prudence
Abstract: Contrary to widespread beliefs, US federal courts have been designed as the courts of limited jurisdiction. Apart from the limits imposed by the federal Constitution or its amendments and, more controversially, also by the Acts of Congress, the federal judiciary itself has developed several justiciability doctrines, which discourage the federal courts from ruling on certain categories of cases where either the respect to the constitutional text or judicial prudence justify to exhibit judicial self-restraint. Of these doctrines, the political question doctrine is definitely the most interesting in terms of the debate on law and politics. Thus, the article provides an overview of the evolution of the classical political question doctrine the origins of which are usually traced to Marbury v. Madison case and which reached its zenith in the first half of the 20th century.
