Separation of Powers in the Uk

This essay will seek to analyse the philosophical system of the legal separation of spots and the importance of its presence at bottom a establishment. Particular wildness will be come outd on identifying how this idea is incorporated into the joined Kingdoms (UK) opus and the effect that recent developments of piece of musical regenerate much(prenominal) as the introduction of the UK peremptory accost in place of the put forward of Lords has had. The doctrine of the separation of powers is an idea that can be seen in writings as far back as the time of Aristotle.This excogitation enounces that all constitution relies on the iii pillars of state which argon the executive, legislative and judiciary. Montesquieu formulated this excogitation in the eighteenth century and in LEsprit des Lois wrote All would be lost if the same man or the same physical structure of principle of men, either of nobles, or of the people, exercised these three powers that of devising laws , that of executing public resolutions, and that of judging the crimes or the disputes of individuals. Montesquieus writing sums up the idea that if in whatever constitution at one time, more(prenominal) than one of these powers are controlled by the same man or body of men indeed the power instigated becomes arbitrary and to effect a dictatorship. These three powers can be seen deep down the UKs constitution, the Government (executive), fantan (legislature) and the Courts (judiciary). The UK has been criticised suggesting that on that point is no separation of powers within our constitution due to its un-codified and thus ill-defined nature making it hard to establish three independent bodies.This was the oddball for a number of reasons firstly within the UK there are overlaps surrounded by the so called powers of state an example of this is the set-up of government. Members of the Prime Ministers Cabinet are withal Members of Parliament who subscribe executive powers as ide being able to ballot in sevens, that in turn creates a direct overlap amongst executive and legislative powers. This can be seen as lately as this year with members of the Cabinet same Deputy Prime Minister prick Clegg having executive powers whilst being able to vote in Parliament on the Tuition Fees Bill 2010.The courts also appear to exercise legislative functions along with their judicial roles through means of the common law. Judges for twenty-four hourss have been creating and changing laws as they see fit and still to this day have the power to make binding precedents. However, the position of Lord premier was regularly criticised as it held presence in all three of the pillars of state. It would appear from this that indeed the United Kingdom does non exercise the concept of separation of powers. In February 2004 the House of Lords introduced what was eventually to be The Constitutional mitigate Act 2005 .This act looked to tackle two of the perceived main criti cisms of the UK constitution namely the role of Lord Chancellor and to bring in a Supreme Court to take over the role of the appellate charge of the House of Lords in the judiciary as prior to this members of the House of Lords were members of both(prenominal) the legislature and the judiciary. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was thereby capable in 2009 however it would appear questionable as to whether it has really brought somewhat a separation of powers.If a logical approach is taken then this introduction of a new chamber has made a banging change to the constitution as no longer would it be mathematical for law lords to sit in the judiciary and vote in parliament however, if we take an alternative view then the Supreme Court has not really changed anything within the UKs constitution. Due to the unwritten format of our constitution it is known that many laws and procedures that countries such as the USA (who possess a written constitution) have backed up by the do cumented constitution itself, we very much rely on the role of convention, habit and custom to hold the three powers in stop consonant.It has very much been convention that from forwards 2006 the law lords that sit in the appellate commission of the House of Lords quit from sitting in political matters whereas members of the Lords who exercise political functions do not participate with any matters of the judiciary. True, the introduction of the Supreme Court has made it insurmountable for the legislative and judicial powers to be fused as members appointed within the Supreme Court will no longer be members of the House of Lords thus making this house of Parliament solely legislative.Perhaps a more important development is that future members of the Supreme Court bespeak not even be peers which could in time sever any link between the two chambers. The act also placed restraints on the role of the Lord Chancellor that have met the same feeling as that of the Supreme Court, whi lst yes these changes are positive, the question remains were they necessary? The introduction of the UK Supreme Court is a positive footfall to incorporate not further more written sources to the constitution that towards properly establishing a separation of powers within the UK. However, it can be suggested that a more appropriate step to chieving this goal would be to approach different issues and ones that dont have constraints such as being governed by convention, that continue to work against any positive steps taken to establish a separation of powers within the state. The fact that Cabinet members can vote in parliament is a direct overlap between two of the powers and maybe right of this domain of a function should be considered as well. Perhaps the whole set up of our countries nonappointive system is in need of reform as any party that commands a majority could effectively pass any bill they like without opposition.Tony Blair as the head of the Labour government i n 1997 enjoyed such mastery of parliament. The use of the Royal Prerogative has been described as unconstitutional and came chthonian scrutiny when Tony Blair supported the USA in the Iraq War and sent British soldiers to war. These majority governments have been described as elective dictatorships, and these are but a few examples of many things that work against our country ever having a true and complete separation of powers. The establishment of the Supreme Court in October 2009 and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 appears to have sparked willingness for change.This could be seen in the 2010 prevalent Election where evanesce emphasis was placed on constitutional reform by each major party, to mention but one is the self-aggrandizing Democrats pledge to attempt to remove the first past the post select system to be replaced by proportional representation. The Con-Lib coalition government of 2010 has recently created a five year fixed term parliament which places the contig uous general election on the first Thursday of May 2015. These are all changes that will eventually contribute to creating a separation of powers and to positively change the constitution.It can be seen from this that the introduction of the new Supreme Court has made a big step towards bringing about a true separation of powers in the UK. Regardless of the conventions that the House of Lords and appellate committee followed, the Supreme Court has severed any link between the judiciary and parliament. This is particularly important in present times as the lift in claims of judicial review require a completely unsophisticated court in order to enable the judiciary to keep check of the legislative and executive branches of state and to uphold constitutional justice.It is also clear that there is at best a partial separation of power in the UK which is important to retain but it could not be tell that we have incorporated this concept wholly and much more will be done over time to e stablish a more stable constitution for future governments. Constitutional reform in itself is not a simple task and examples of this can be seen in countries such as Bosnia who are before long struggling with reformations, which really does highlight the enormity of creating a Supreme Court and re-identifying the judicial branch of the UK.Whilst there is currently only a partial separation of powers in the UK for now, this may be starting to change. 1491 Words. Bibliography Neil Parpworth, Constitutional & Administrative Law (6th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2010). Anthony King, The British Constitution (Oxford University Press, 2007). Jeffrey Jowell and permeate Oliver, The Changing Constitution (6th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2007). Vernon Bogdanor, The New British Constitution (Hart Publishing, 2009). http//www. energyobserver. com/tekst-e. php? lang=2&ID=1072 accessed 07/01/2011 1407. accessed 07/01/2011 1536.