Judicial Activism, 2015 An Interdisciplinary Approach to the American and European Experiences Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice Series, Vol. 44

This volume offers different perspectives on judicial practice in the European and American contexts, both arguably characterized in the last decades by the emergence of novel normative and even policy arguments by judges. The central question deserving the attention of the contributors concerns the degree in which judicial exercises in practical reasoning may amount to forms of judicial usurpation of the legislative function by courts. Since different views as to the nature and scope of legal reasoning lead to different degrees of tolerance regarding what should be admissible to courts, that same nature and scope is thoroughly debated.

The main disciplinary approach is that of general jurisprudence, but the contributions take stock of other disciplines in which judicial activism has been addressed, namely positive theories of judicial behavior. Accordingly, the book also explores the development of interdisciplinary dialogue about the theme.

Introduction.- Section I Judicial Activism, Legal Reasoning And The Concept Of Law.- Between Nightmare and Noble Dream: Judicial Activism and Legal Theory; Massimo La Torre.- Judicial Activism: Clearing the Air and the Head; Lawrence Alexander.- Judicial Activism and “Reason”; Steven D. Smith.- Judicial Activism and Fidelity to Law; Gonçalo de Almeida Ribeiro.- Adjudication as Grammatication: The Case of French Judicial Politics; Pierre Legrand.- Section II Judicial Activism in Perspective.- The Activist Judge – Vanity of Vanities; James Allan.- Schmitt’s Spectre and Kelsen’s Promise: The Polemics on the Guardian of the Constitution; Miguel Nogueira de Brito.- Theories of Judicial Behavior and the Law: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead; Tiago Fidalgo de Freitas.- The Passive Sovereignty of the Constitutional Judge: A State Theory Approach; Luís Pereira Coutinho.- Section III Judicial Activism in Context.- The Contextual Nature of Proportionality and its Relation with the Intensity of Judicial Review; Jorge Silva Sampaio.- Politics and the Judiciary: A Naïve Step Towards the End of Judicial Policy-Making; Maria Benedita Urbano.-The Judicial Activism of the European Court of Justice; Lourenço Vilhena de FreitasCourts and European Integration; Francisco Pereira Coutinho.- Judicial Activism, Judicial Independence and Judicial Hubris: The Case of International Courts; Maimon Schwarzschild.- List of Authors.