Separation Of Powers And The United Kingdom 's Constitution Essay

The doctrine of the separation of powers is an important principle in Constitutional law. The separation of the legislature is the power to make laws; the executive is the power to administer the laws; and the judiciary is the power to interpret and enforce laws that is constructed through the Commonwealth of Australia.

The Seperation of Powers and the American Constitution When the founding fathers wrote the Constitution they came up with a revolutionary idea which is known as the seperation of powers. This incorperated a system which protected the principles on which the constitution was based, such as avoiding tyranny and forming a more perfect union. The way the seperation of powers work is known as vertical and horizontal. The vertical seperation of powers has three different branches, the Federal government, the state governments and the much smaller local governments.

Separation of Powers and Federalism must be separated as people would seek their own advantage, the pursuit of self-interest left unchecked ,would lead some people to exploit others. By dividing power between the states and national government, one level of government can serve as a check to the other. This provides a “double security” to the rights of the people. Separation of Powers is key because its constitutional authority is shared by three branches of government, however checks and balances appraises the power on its authority. Federalism is key as its government authority shared by national and local governments, which is also checked.

In government, the concept the separation of powers means that different branches will have various responsibilities. At the same time, select powers are reserved for the states and local jurisdictions. This is designed to prevent possible civil rights abuses from occurring and maintain a government that is responsive to the needs of the general public. ("35 Separation of Powers," 2012)

When our country is faced with severe war debts, currency with no value, and no taxes to fund our country in order to prevent our country from forcing our country and denizens into bankruptcy we will issue several requirements and orders. First there will be uniform currency across the country which will be converted from metals to paper. Each state will be responsible for the taxation of their citizens, while the Federal government will be liable for taxing the states and their citizens in order to maintain a functioning government. Congress shall be held responsible for the coining of money and deciding its value, which will be agreed upon based in if there is enough gold to back in.

Compared to the US Constitution, the rule of law in the UK is seen as

The concept of separation of governmental powers is an essential principle to our democracy. The Separation of Powers devised by the framers of the Constitution was designed to do one primary thing: to prevent the majority from ruling with an iron fist, so the framers shied away from giving any branch of the new government too much power. There were three branches created within the Constitution -- the Legislature, Executive, and Judicial, each of which have a distinct function and fine lines separating them. (1)

In order to assess this question we first have to consider what the doctrine of separation of powers actually is. The idea was developed by the French jurist Montesquieu in the 18th Century. It is based on a division of power between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. Each institution have their distinct and largely exclusive domain. The legislative function involves the enactment of general rules determining the structure and powers of public authorities and regulating the conduct of citizens and private organisations. The executive’s main function is

“The “Separation of powers” refers to the idea that the major institutions of state should be functionally independent and that no individual should have powers that span these offices. The principal institutions are usually taken to be the executive, the legislature and the judiciary.” Therefore, the organs of state as described by Montesquieu should operate separately order to successfully implement law and order to the UK.

To what extent would we have to go to be able to properly lay the divisions of power in the government and implement the separation of powers as written in the Constitution? We must analyze the structure of government to find a means of keeping departments in check. So we can develop this theory, some observations will be noted in order to shape a clearer idea on the structure of government.

The importance of the separation of powers in the UK is quite doubtful as there is a massive disagreement between academic writers. Marshall argues that the separation of powers just covers the confused collection of principles, each of could be argued in its own right without using the conception of separation of powers, as an example

One successful accomplishment of the Americans was the construction of the twin pillars of American constitutionalism: federalism and the separation of powers. This essay serves to discuss the similarities and differences between the rationales behind the separation of powers and federalism. Both the separation of powers and federalism divide power to prevent the accumulation of powers in one hand and to increase citizen participation on the state and national levels. However, apart from the mere division of powers, separation of powers further emphasizes on the division of the functions of the three branches, namely the legislature, executive and judiciary. In addition, separation of powers also has a distinct system of checks and balances.

It is well established within the UK constitution that parliament has unlimited legislative powers. This power is exercised through the uncodified British constitution, uncodified meaning that it is not written in a single document. The constitution is portrayed as a set of the most important rules and principles with the primary purpose of outlining how the country should be run, which the uk is governed under. These rules are set out in the common law, Acts of parliament and constitutional conventions. Parliament is the supreme source of English law also known as ‘queen in parliament’ and is a bicameral parliament, consisting of the House of Commons, the House of Lords and the Monarch (the Queen). This essay will be specifically exploring the extent of power that is granted to Parliament by the UK constitution. Fundamentally the legitimacy of the concept of parliamentary sovereignty and how parliament does have unlimited legislative power by examining the separation of powers. However, there is a school of thought that parliamentary sovereignty can be undermined by notably the devolution of power thwarting the flexibility and functionality of parliament.

The relationship between modern day Parliament and Government has adopted some characteristics of the doctrine of fusion of power and moved away from the doctrine of separation of powers. It has been made clear that the functions and make up of both the executive and legislative has meant that both these branches are moving towards fusion of powers. Therefore, it is evident that modern day Britain is operating under the suggested doctrine by Bagehot made in 1867, because of their roles and functions. Nevertheless, it is essential to consider that there is not complete fusion of power because many aspects of separation of powers are still prominent.

In regard to British Constitution, the aspect of separation of power is not supreme. For instance, the three arms of the government are founded under the article of United States Constitution, which give these arms distinct and essential power roles within the federal government. Basically, the key objective of having three arms of government is to allow separation of power hence avoid concentration of power to one branch of government. The U.S. Constitution states that the powers of