Definition: Judicial power is the authority granted to courts and judges by the Constitution and other laws to interpret and decide, based on sound legal principles, and rule accordingly. This power allows judiciary authorities to determine the legality of arguments, proofs and facts in order to execute a sentence or a ruling.
What Does Judicial Power Mean?
The U.S. Constitution, in its third article, establishes the creation of a Supreme Court and other minor courts that are properly vested with the authority to rule and interpret the different laws enacted in the course of the nation’s history. This power flows downwards from the Supreme Court in a pyramid scheme of different courts that guarantee the fairness of legal procedures through an adequate check and balances system.
The three main responsibilities these courts have by using this power are: to judge court-worthy cases fairly, to enforce the law when there are certain constitutional principles being put to question and finally, to interpret the laws properly to solve disputes. The abuse of these powers can be properly controlled by the judiciary structure, which is an organism intended to self-regulate. Nevertheless, even though this sounds like a fair scheme, extensive legal procedures are tedious and might lead to a waste of resources and time.
Example
Lion Distributors LLC and O’Leary Capital LLC recently engaged in a legal dispute for the usage of certain brand. O’Leary Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in new businesses and Lion Distributors is a company that sells technological devices to the public through a patented digital system. O’Leary wanted to use Lion Distributor’s brand to commercialize other products (outside the company’s digital environment) and they alleged that since they own 40% of the company they have the right to do so.
Nevertheless, the Board of Directors of Lion never approved the usage of the brand for such purposes and now a legal dispute is on the table. According to this concept of legal power, the court assigned with the case has the authority to interpret the law properly to grant O’Leary the permission to use the brand or to forbid it.
