Established as part of the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange, the Judicial Power Project aims to focus on the “proper scope of the judicial power within the constitution” and to identify issues of “judicial overreach” (the excessive exercise of judicial lawmaking power) and the usurpation of democratic parliamentary lawmaking, via legislation, by the courts, via the doctrine of precedent.

On its website, the project argues that:

Many in the academy and legal profession now share an expansive, adventurous understanding of judicial power and the willingness and authority of the courts to oversee Parliament’s lawmaking actions or to overrule the executive’s exercise of its lawful powers has sharply expanded.

Whilst recognising the proper separation of powers (between the executive, legislative, judiciary branches of government), the project argues that some contemporary judicial lawmaking amounts to unwarranted “judicial activism”. The project organises events and publishes articles and papers discussing this and related topics.

Whether or not one accepts its premise, the project is undoubtedly of interest to readers of case law. It has published a list of 50 Problematic Cases which it says demonstrate some form of judicial overreach by domestic or European courts.