judicial activism

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Judicial lawmaking that exceeds the proper exercise of judicial authority, especially when concerned with matters ordinarily addressed by a legislature.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun law, pejorative the act of replacing an impartial interpretation of existing law with the judge's personal feelings about what the law should be

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun an interpretation of the U.S. constitution holding that the spirit of the times and the needs of the nation can legitimately influence judicial decisions (particularly decisions of the Supreme Court)