Dr. Marc Hertogh is Associate Professor of Socio-Legal Studies at the Faculty of Law, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. Dr Simon Halliday is Nicholas de B. Katzenbach Research Fellow at the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies at the University of Oxford.

• Introduction Marc Hertogh and Simon Halliday; 1. Understanding judicial review and its impact Peter Cane; 2. Judicial review and bureaucratic impact: conceptual issues in researching the impact of judicial review on government bureaucracies Maurice Sunkin; 3. Studying bureaucratic implementation of judicial polices in the U.S.: conceptual and methodological approaches Bradley C. Canon; 4. Impact studies in the UK Genevra Riachardson; 5. The politics of soft law: how judicial decisions influence bureaucratic discretion in Canada Lorne Sossin; 6. The operation of judicial review in Australia Robin Creyke and John McMillan; 7. Legalizing the unlegalizeable: terrorism, secret services and judicial review in Israel 1970–2001 Yoav Dotan; 8. Implementing court orders: judges as executives Malcolm M. Feeley; 9. Judicial review and bureaucratic impact: the future of EU administrative law Martin Shapiro; 10. Judicial review and bureaucratic impact in future research Marc Hertogh and Simon Halliday.

'Socio-legal studies of judicial review to assess its socio-bureaucratic impact are a contemporary trend … a timely and insightful addition. … Researchers will gain much insight … a good reminder of the strengths and influence of law and judicial review in our life … contains rich bibliographies and refers to a wide range of cases, which will enormously benefit future researchers of judicial impact. Intellectually insightful and focussed … should attract a wide readership.' Cambridge Law Journal