Judicial Review, Administrative Review, and Constitutional Review in the Weimar Republic

Abstract.   Judicial review ( richterliches Prüfungsrecht ), administrative review ( Verwaltungsgerichtbarkeit ), and constitutional review ( Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit ) are three different ways in which the judiciary has sought to control the executive and legislative powers of the state. Historically and functionally they are closely linked. I intend to discuss them in their German context, focussing, in particular, on the Weimar Republic, that is to say, on the period between 1919 and 1932. Although I shall not be addressing the highly interesting parallels with the U.S. Supreme Court, or with the comparable courts in Italy, France, and, especially, Austria, I should like to invite attention to them, for there is really no Sonderweg in Germany as far as these developments are concerned.