A legal case decided in 1610 by Sir Edward Coke, chief justice of England's Court of Common Pleas, in which he asserted the supremacy of the common law in England. Sir Edward Coke Sir Edward Coke (pronounced cook) (1 February 1552–3 September 1634) was an early English colonial entrepreneur and jurist whose writings on the English common law were the definitive legal texts for some 300 years. ...

In the case, the Royal College of Physicians had convicted and imprisoned Thomas Bonham for practicing medicine without a license. When Bonham challenged his imprisonment, Coke ruled that the Royal College lacked the authority under its charter and a parliamentary statute to imprison for practicing without a license. Because the same entity--the Royal College--both suffered the wrong and collected the fine, Coke argued, the College had acted as both a party and a judge in the dispute. The Royal College of Physicians of London is the oldest medical institution in England, and among the most active of all medical professional organisations. ...

Generalizing beyond this case, Coke wrote:

[I]n many cases the common law will controul acts of Parliament and sometimes adjudge them to be utterly void: for when an Act of Parliament is against common right or reason, or repugnant, or impossible to be performed, the common law will controul it and adjudge such Act to be void.

The legal scholar J.H. Baker has called this statement "the foundation of the practice of 'judicial review' of legislation in America." The U.S. Supreme Court has also recognized the influence of Lord Coke's opinion in Bonham's Case, stating that "although Coke's dictum [in Bonham’s Case] was to have a somewhat greater influence in America, that influence took the form of providing an early foundation for the idea that courts might invalidate legislation that they found inconsistent with a written constitution." Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44, 162 (1996) (Souter, J., dissenting). Holding Congress does not have the power pursuant to the Indian Commerce Clause to abrogate the sovereign immunity afforded to states under the 11th Amendment; the doctrine of Ex parte Young, which allows parties to seek relief against state officials for violations of the Constitution or laws of the United...

References

S. Huebner. "Review of John V. Orth, Due Process of Law: A Brief History," H-Law, H-Net Reviews, June, 2004.
"More Details on Lord Coke" from The Edward Coke Appellate Inn of Court.
Complete text of Coke's decision in Dr. Bonham's Case