Separation of Powers

• 1. The judiciary - senior judges, including the supreme court
• 2. legislature - parliament (HOC+HOL)
• 3. the executive - the Prime Minister and government minister
• This concept was created by French political thinker Montesquieu i 1748
• no person should be in more than one branch of power
• by creating separate institutions it is possible to have a system of checks and balances
• America has three separate branches of power while the UK's Legislative and Executive overlap
• Constitutional Reform Act 2005: created a completely separate judiciary (the supreme court)
• Twin Pillars of Constitution: created by A.V Dicey in 1885 ('Introduction ot the Study of the law of the constitution')
• Pillar 1: the rule of law

  • no one is above the law
  • equality before law
  • the law is always applied
  • the law applies to everyone at all times
  • Harden and Lewis(1988) described it as the 'noble lie' of the British Constitution
• Pillar 2: Parliamentary Sovereignty

  • Parliament is competent to pass laws on any subject
  • parliament's laws can regulate the activities of anyone anywhere
  • parliament can't bind its successors to the content, manner and form of subsequent legislation
  • laws passed by parliament can't be challenged by the court