Recognize the Principles of the Judiciary

Recognize the Principles of the Judiciary Although the principles of judiciary demand the judicial process to follow due legal processes to the letter, legal crises do occur in some instances. Legal conflict arises when inconsistencies emerge between the constitution and the general laws.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Recognize the Principles of the Judiciary specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A classical example is the Marbury v. Madison case of the United States in which a legal conflict arose due to the inconsistency of the United States constitution with the Judiciary Act. According to this case, â€Å"William Marbury petitioned the Supreme Court to compel James Madison, Secretary of State to effect his appointment as a commissioner of Justice for Peace in Columbia District but John Marshall, Chief Justice denied the petition as he termed it unconstitutional† (Reisman, 2007, p. 3). This became a landmark ruling since the Supreme Court, for the fir st time in the United States history, declared an Act to be unconstitutional. In this ruling, John Marshal realized that there was legal conflict between the constitution and the Judicial Act, and the only way to conduct constitutional review was through the Supreme Court. The Marbury v. Madison ruling coupled with some clauses in Article III authorizes the Supreme Court to carry out judicial review. The Article III of the United States constitution states that, In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction†¦in all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction (Stone, 2007, p. 35). Therefore, the United States constitution gives the powers to the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review in cases where legal conflict arises.   The prime function of the Supreme Court in judicial review is to protect the constitution and ensure that all statutes are consistent with the constitution. The constitutions of England and Netherland do not give powers to their Supreme Courts to exercise judicial review on the constitutionality of statues and treaties, because legislators have the mandate of ensuring that they only pass constitutional acts. In cases of constitutional dispute concerning â€Å"†¦the right interpretation of a law or a treaty in accordance with the constitution †¦ the judge cannot have supremacy over the legislator, because the question of constitutionality of an act is more political than technical-judicial (Huq, 2008, p. 32). Halsema proposal seeks to have the Supreme Court assume the jurisdiction to check constitutionality of statutes and treaties. The approval of the Halsema proposal means that the parliament and the government will have to share their mandate of constitutional review with the judiciary, hence judicial review.Advertising Looking for essay on political sc iences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Most Americans accept judicial review even though it is not explicit in the constitution because it has provided means of checking constitutionality of statutes. Statistics shows that, in the two hundred years of judicial review 175 federal laws and 1006 state laws were declared unconstitutional (1789-2004) (Whittington, 2009, p. 12). This means that if there was no judicial review, the courts could still be grappling with over 1000 legal conflicts, which slows down the wheels of justice. The landmark ruling of the Marbury v. Madison case set precedent on ways of solving legal conflicts that emerge quite often due to the inconsistencies of the statutes with the constitution. Despite the fact that judicial review has helped to speed up the due process of the law, Thomas Jefferson criticized it saying that, to consider judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions is a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy (Reisman, 2007, p. 8). Jefferson argues that judges are common people with same passions and interests that might lead them to make compromised judicial reviews to attain their desired ends. I agree with Jefferson argument that it is quite dangerous to give constitutional review powers to the judiciary since too much power corrupts ultimately. To counter the dangers associated with excessive judicial review powers, the parliament should provide provisions that limit the autonomy of the judicial review process. References Huq, A. (2008). Constitutional Courts and Judicial Review. Center on International Cooperation, 4(12), 31-34. Reisman, D. (2007). The Supreme Court. New York Life Journal, 15(32), 1-12. Stone, G. (2005). Constitutional Law. New York: Aspen Publishers.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Recognize the Principles of the Judiciary specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Whittington, K. (2009). The Theories of Judicial Review. Spring Journal, 20(1), 1-18.

The Mysterious Moons of Pluto

The Mysterious Moons of Pluto Planet Pluto continues to tell a fascinating story as scientists pore over the data taken by the New Horizons mission in 2015. Long before the tiny spacecraft passed through the system, the science team knew there were five moons out there, worlds that were distant and mysterious. They were hoping to get a closer look at as many of these places as possible in an effort to understand more about them and how they came to exist. As the spacecraft whizzed past, it captured close-up images of Charon - Plutos largest moon, and glimpses of the smaller ones. These were named Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra. The four smaller moons orbit in circular paths, with Pluto and Charon orbiting together like the bulls-eye of a target. Planetary scientists suspect that Plutos moons formed in the aftermath of a titanic collision between at least two objects that occurred in the distant past. Pluto and Charon settled into a locked orbit with each other, while the other moons scattered out to more distant orbits. Charon Plutos largest moon, Charon, was first discovered in 1978, when an observer at the Naval Observatory captured an image of what looked almost like a bump growing out the side of Pluto. Its about half the size of Pluto, and its surface is mostly grayish with mottled areas of reddish material near one pole. That polar material is made up of a substance called tholin, which is made up of methane or ethane molecules, sometimes combined with nitrogen ices, and reddened by constant exposure to solar ultraviolet light. The ices form as gases from Pluto transfer from and get deposited onto Charon (which lies only about 12,000 miles away). Pluto and Charon are locked in an orbit that takes 6.3 days and they keep the same face toward each other all the time. At one time, scientists considered calling these a binary planet, and there is some consensus that Charon itself could be a dwarf planet. Even though Charons surface is frigid and icy, it turns out to more than 50 percent rock in its interior. Pluto itself is more rocky, and covered with an icy shell. Charons icy covering is mostly water ice, with patches of other material from Pluto, or coming from under the surface by cryovolcanoes. New Horizons  got close enough, no one was sure what to expect about Charons surface. So, it was fascinating to see the greyish ice, colored in spots with the tholins. At least one large canyon splits the landscape, and there are more craters in the north than the south. This suggests that something happened to resurface Charon and cover many old craters. The name Charon comes from the Greek legends of the underworld (Hades). He was the boatman sent to ferry the souls of the deceased over the river Styx. In deference to the discoverer of Charon, who referenced his wifes name for the world, its spelled Charon, but pronounced SHARE-on.   The Smaller Moons of Pluto Styx, Nyx, Hydra and Kerberos are tiny worlds that orbit between two and four times the distance that Charon does from Pluto. Theyre oddly shaped, which lends credence to the idea that they formed as part of a collision in Plutos past. Styx was discovered in 2012 as astronomers were using Hubble Space Telescope to search the system for moons and rings around Pluto. It appears to have an elongated shape, and is about 3 by 4.3 miles. Nyx orbits out beyond Styx, and was found in 2006 along with distant Hydra. Its about 33 by 25 by 22 miles across, making it somewhat oddly shaped, and it takes nearly 25 days to make one orbit of Pluto. It may have some of the same tholins as Charon spread across its surface, but New Horizons didnt get close enough to get many details. Hydra is the most distant of Plutos five moons, and New Horizons  was able to get a fairly good image of it as the spacecraft went by. There appear to be a few craters on its lumpy surface. Hydra measures about 34 by 25 miles and takes about 39 days to make one orbit around Pluto. The most mysterious-looking moon is Kerberos, which looks lumpy and misshapen in the New Horizons mission image. It appears to be a double-lobed world about 11 12 x 3 miles across. It takes just over 5 days to make one trip around Pluto. Not much else is known about Kerberos, which was discovered in 2011 by astronomers using Hubble Space Telescope. How Did Plutos Moons Get Their Names? Pluto is named for the god of the underworld in Greek mythology. So, when astronomers wanted to name the moons in orbit with it, they looked to the same classical mythology. Styx is the river that dead souls were supposed to cross to get to Hades, while Nix is the Greek goddess of darkness. Hydra is a many-headed serpent thought to have battled with the Greek hero Heracles. Kerberos is an alternate spelling for Cereberus, the so-called hound of Hades who guarded the gates to the underworld in mythology. Now that New Horizons is well beyond Pluto, its next target is a small dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. It will pass by that one on January 1, 2019. Its first reconnaissance of this distant region taught much about the Pluto system and the next one promises to be equally interesting as it reveals more about the solar system and its distant worlds.