司法審查存立的制度性基礎

Institutional Foundations of Judicial Review

長期以來，我們一直以為一部成文憲法，以及一套司法審查制度，乃是民主政治運作的基礎，也是民主政治人權保障的必要條件。發展至今，世界上鮮少有不制定憲法並採行司法審查制度的國家（包括威權甚至極權國家）。然而根據156 國實證資料的檢驗，司法審查制度與人權保障並無必然的關係。真正影響人權保障的乃是一個國家民主化的程度，具體落實在一個民選的國會，來限制政府統治權的行使。司法審查存立的主要目的在於解決聯邦與邦之間法律的衝突，以維繫聯邦體制的運作。

For years we presuppose that a written constitution and an institution of judicial review are not only the foundations of democracy but also a prerequisite for the protection of civil rights. Up to now, few nations, including authoritarian and even totalitarian nations, exist without a written constitution and an institution of judicial review. However, according to the empirical data, based on 156 nations, the relationship between judicial review and protection of civil rights is hardly tenable. The key factor in the safeguarding of civil rights is not the institution of judicial review, but the degree of democratization, embodied in an elective legislature to limit government powers. The main purpose of judicial review is to resolve the conflict between the federal and state government in order to maintain the federalism.