This is the third edition of a comparative analysis of the constitution of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, and the United States, giving particular attention to the effect of judicial interpretation of legislation in each of these countries. Professor McWhinney has added a new Preface and a new final chapter on “Judicial Policymaking in an Era of Revolution.”
To his task Professor McWhinney brings a wide experience as teacher, lawyer, and consultant in some of these countries, and further experience in teacher and research supervisor for a number of years to students from all the countries covered by the survey.
There are of course, many works that deal with judicial review in Canada, Australia, and the United States. Professor McWhinney’s distinctive contribution lies in his application of the comparative method to all the Commonwealth constitutions, and his extensive use of analogies and comparisons with the experience of the United States. He explores the factors that have made judicial review in the Commonwealth countries rather different from that in the United States, particularly those factors relating to legal education and the traditions of judicial appointment in the various countries under discussion. His emphasis is on the law in action as distinct from the law in books, and on the constant adjustment of legal doctrine to changing conditions of society.
Both as an area study of many countries, and as a study in theory of law and government, the work should commend itself to students and teachers of constitutional law, political science and government, political history, and legal theory.
