Judicial interpretation

Judicial interpretation are different ways the judiciary uses to interpret the law, particularly constitutional documents and legislation. This is an impactful problem in many common law jurisdictions, such as the United States, Australia or Canada because the supreme courts of those nations can overturn laws made by their individual legislatures via judicial review.

For example, the United States Supreme Court has decided such topics as the legality of slavery as in the Dred Scott decision, desegregation as in the Brown v Board of Education decision, and abortion rights as in the Roe v Wade decision. As a result, how justices interpret the constitution, and the ways in which they approach this task, has a political aspect. Terms describing types of judicial interpretation can be ambiguous; for example, the term judicial conservatism can vary in meaning depending on what is trying to be "conserved". One can look at judicial interpretation along a continuum from judicial restraint to judicial activism, with different viewpoints along the continuum.

In the United States, there are different ways to do judicial interpretation:

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