Rebalancing the lawmaking process: constitutional meaning, procedural integrity, and the reach of Kazai’s equilibrium theory : Review essay on Viktor Kazai, The Equilibrium of Parliamentary Lawmaking: Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Courts in a Democracy (Routledge 2025)

Abstract

This review essay critically engages Viktor Kazai’s The Equilibrium of Parliamentary Lawmaking: Comparative Perspectives on the Role of Courts in a Democracy (Routledge 2025), positioning it as a pivotal contribution to emerging theories of constitutional lawmaking. Rather than offering a conventional review, the essay intervenes in broader debates on institutional balance, democratic process, and judicial oversight. Kazai’s model of ‘equilibrium’ provides a normative framework that reconceptualizes parliamentary lawmaking as a dynamic interaction among institutional actors, grounded in the constitutional principles of democracy, the rule of law, and separation of powers. First, the essay places Kazai’s theory in dialogue with Rosalind Dixon’s responsive judicial review and Aileen Kavanagh’s collaborative constitution, showing how it complements and extends these approaches. Second, it identifies three principal contributions of Kazai’s model: (1) the reconceptualization of lawmaking as a cyclical, multi-actor process, (2) its complementarity with leading theories of judicial engagement, and (3) the further research it invites on procedural human rights, the role of international assistance bodies in legislative design, and legislative process in presidential systems. By engaging with Kazai’s model in light of executive dominance, judicialization of politics, and the transnationalization of lawmaking standards, the essay offers the first extended theoretical reflection on his work.