Bibliogr. s. 52-53

The judicial review owes its popularity primarily to the judgment in the Marbury v. Madison case, which gave American courts the power to strike down laws, statutes, and certain government actions that were viewed to violate the Constitution. Although today there is no doubt that the Supreme Court not only has such power but also uses it, we will not find a rule in the US Constitution that in explicit terms, (expressis verbis), would give it such competence and its origin may arouse much controversy due to the context of Judge Marshall’s judgment. The paper presents the problems of systematizing the role of judicial review in the tradition of American judiciary primarily analysing the first judgements of the Supreme Court as well as the political background associated with the struggle for influence between federalists and anti-federalists.