UN PRECEDENTE REMOTO DE LA JUDICIAL REVIEW: EL CONTROL JUDICIAL DE LA LEGISLACI�N DE LAS COLONIAS AMERICANAS
Authors: Fern�ndez Segado Francisco 
Published: September 2021

Los primeros esbozos de la judicial review en Norteam�rica han de situarse en el per�odo colonial. En esa etapa el dictum de Coke en el Bonham�s case se iba a convertir en la fuente m�s importante de la revisi�n judicial de la legislaci�n. La introducci�n de la revisi�n judicial presupon�a la idea de la existencia de un Derecho fundamental, esto es, un Derecho superior que los estatutos de las asambleas legislativas coloniales hab�an de respetar. En el siglo XVIII los colonos iban a encontrar unos s�lidos puntos de apoyo para su idea acerca de la existencia de un Derecho fundamental en esas impresionantes construcciones doctrinales de la Ilustraci�n que son los tratados sistem�ticos sobre el Derecho natural e internacional. Las Cartas coloniales, otorgadas por el Rey, se consideraron por los tribunales vinculantes respecto a las Legislaturas coloniales, aplic�ndose como Derecho superior. En el caso Giddings v. Brown (1657) el dictum de Coke recibi� por primera vez aplicaci�n pr�ctica al otro lado del Atl�ntico. En la decisi�n de este caso el Juez Symonds escrib�a �que donde una ley es contraria a un Derecho fundamental, es nula�.

Tambi�n el Privy Council, en el ejercicio de su jurisdicci�n de apelaci�n respecto de los tribunales coloniales, iba a llevar a cabo una revisi�n judicial de la legislaci�n colonial. Su anulaci�n judicial de los estatutos coloniales se ha equiparado a la revisi�n judicial de la legislaci�n. De hecho, en el caso Winthrop v. Lechmere (1727), el Privy Council declar� la nulidad de una ley de Connecticut de 1699, la Ley para la soluci�n de las propiedades intestadas, declar�ndola nula y sin valor a causa de que era �contraria a las leyes de Inglaterra en cuanto que convert�a tierras heredadas en distribuibles como propiedades personales y esto no estaba autorizado por la Carta de la Colonia�. En resumen, la etapa colonial, incluso bastante antes de James Otis y del Writs Assistance Case, nos ofrece algunos ejemplos de aplicaci�n de la doctrina de la revisi�n judicial de la legislaci�n y, sobre todo, nos revela que tal doctrina era muy bien conocida y admitida en amplio sectores del mundo jur�dico colonial.

Palabras clave: Cartas coloniales, Constituci�n antigua; Derecho fundamental; Dictum de Coke; Judicial review; Legislaci�n colonial; Privy Council; Tribunales coloniales.

ABSTRACT

The first sketchs of the judicial review have to place in the colonial period. In this age, the Coke�s dictum in the Bonham�s case became the most important single source of the notion of judicial review. The introduction of the judicial review presupposed the idea of a fundamental law, that is, a superior law that the colonial laws had to respect. In the 18th century the colonists should find firm bases for his idea about the existence of a fundamental law in those impressive doctrinal constructions of the Enlightenment, the systematic treaties on natural and international law. The colonial Charters granted for the King were considered by courts binding for the legislatures and they were applied as a higher law. In the Giddings v. Brown case (1657), for the first time, the Coke�s dictum received practical application in the other side of the Atlantic. In the ruling of this case the Judge Symonds wrote �that where a law is repugnant to fundamental law, it is void�.

Likewise, the Privy Council, in the practice of its appeal�s jurisdiction in relation to colonial courts, carried out a judicial review of the colonial legislation. Its judicial annulment of the statutes has been compared to the function of judicial review. In fact, in the Winthrop v. Lechmere case (1727), the Privy Council declared that an Act of Connecticut, the Act for the Settlement of Intestates Estates (1699) was null and void because it was �contrary to the laws of England, in regard it makes lands of inheritance distributables as personal estates, and it is not warranted by the Charter of that Colony�. In short, the colonial epoch, even long before of James Otis and the Writs of Assistance Case, offers us some examples of the application of the judicial review of legislation doctrine and, above all, it reveals us that a such doctrine was very well knew and acknowledged in considerable sectors of the legal colonial world.

Key words: Ancient constitution; Coke�s dictum; Colonial courts; Colonial legislation; Charters; Fundamental law; Judicial review; Privy Council.