Dr. Bonham's Case
| Dr. Bonham's Case | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Court | Court of Common Pleas |
| Full case name | Thomas Bonham v College of Physicians |
| Decided | Winter 1610 |
| Citation(s) | 8 Co. Rep. 107 77 Eng. Rep. 638 |
| Case opinions | |
|
Coke CJ (Daniel and Warburton assenting) Walmisley J (Foster assenting) |
|
| Court membership | |
| Judge(s) sitting |
Coke CJ Warburton J Daniel J Foster J Walmisley J |
| Keywords | |
| Parliamentary sovereignty, judicial review | |
Thomas Bonham v College of Physicians, commonly known as Dr. Bonham's Case or simply Bonham's Case, was decided in 1610 by the Court of Common Pleas in England under Sir Edward Coke, the court's Chief Justice. Coke said that "in many cases, the common law will control Acts of Parliament", and explained why he thought so. Coke's meaning has been disputed over the years; according to one interpretation, Coke intended the kind of judicial review that would later develop in the United States, whereas other scholars contend that Coke only meant to construe a statute without challenging Parliamentary sovereignty. If Coke intended the former, then he may have eventually changed his view. This statement by Coke is sometimes considered obiter dicta, rather than part of the ratio decidendi of the case.
Whatever Coke's meaning, after an initial period when his decision enjoyed some support (but during which no statutes were declared void), Bonham's Case was thrown aside in favour of the growing doctrine of Parliamentary sovereignty. In one of the most prominent early treatises supporting that doctrine, William Blackstone wrote that Parliament is the sovereign law-maker, preventing the common law courts from throwing aside or reviewing statutes in the fashion Coke suggested. Parliamentary sovereignty is now the accepted judicial doctrine in the legal system of England and Wales. Bonham's Case was met with mixed reactions at the time, with King James I and the Lord Chancellor, Lord Ellesmere, both deeply unhappy with it; it has been suggested as one of the reasons for Coke's dismissal from the Common Pleas in 1613. Academics in the 19th and 20th centuries have been scarcely more favourable, calling it "a foolish doctrine alleged to have been laid down extra-judicially", and simply an "abortion".
In the United States, Coke's decision met with a better reaction. During the legal and public campaigns against the writs of assistance and Stamp Act of 1765, Bonham's Case was given as a justification for nullifying the legislation, although by 1772 Blackstone's views gained acceptance.Marbury v. Madison, the American case which in 1803 formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution, used the words "void" and "repugnant", although Marbury's usage was somewhat different from Coke's usage. Academics have argued that Coke's work in Bonham's Case forms the basis of judicial review in the United States; other academics disagree, with one scholar calling this "one of the most enduring myths of American constitutional law and theory, to say nothing of history".
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