- The deliberative: discusses everything of common importance.
- The officials.
- The judicial.
His theory was further developed by the French philosopher Montesquieu, who stated that if the legislative and executive powers are stored in the same person, then there will be no liberty. He stressed on the importance of independent judiciary, because he thought if the powers were vested in the same person it would lead to the government becoming dictatorial and corrupt. Montesquieu’s version of the doctrine was more clearly explained by his student Sir William Blackstone. According to him, the constitution should be balanced and the powers should overlap to some extent.
Separation of Powers in UK:
The UK is a peculiar state which consists of four nations and does not have a written constitution. The UK’s constitution is made up of several written documents (e.g. Magna Carta, Petition of rights, Bill of rights, etc.). There is no clear division of powers in UK, however it does exist. The power is mainly distributed to three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Executive Branch:
The executive branch creates policies and is accountable for its execution. This branch is made up of the Crown (who is the head of executive), Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. Moreover, in practical terms the civil service is also said to be a part of the executive branch. The Lord Chancellor, who is currently a member of the Cabinet of Ministers, was previously considered to be a violation of the doctrine of separation of powers. This is because previously he was the speaker of the House of Lords, head of Judiciary and a member of the Cabinet of Ministers; this clearly meant that there was a very weak separation among the powers. Therefore, the “Constitutional Reform Act 2005” was passed, which reformed the Lord Chancellor’s role and contributed to a stricter form of separation of powers.
Legislative Branch:
The Parliament in UK is the most sovereign institution and it exercises the legislative power. The Parliament constitutes of House of Lords and House of Commons. The House of Commons is elected directly by the people whereas, the House of Lords is composed of members who are appointed due to heritage. The Parliament has supremacy over all the other branches.
Judicial Branch:
Like any other country, the main function of this branch is to solve the conflicts between institutions, state and individuals. However, unlike Continental legal system countries, the judiciary in UK has one more important function, that is to create law through their decisions. The judicial branch is made up of judges in courts, and those who hold judicial office in tribunals. The judiciary in UK is independent from executive and legislative branch and this independence is secured by certain acts and constitutional documents. However, the independence does get a bit limited because the appointment of the judiciary is up to the legislative (i.e. the Crown).
British System:
Even though Montesquieu based his work, on the separation of powers, on UK, it does not really have a strict division of powers. It is believed by some that the executive branch dominates the legislative branch to a certain extent, because the Parliament is composed of members elected in the House of Commons. Moreover, the influence of judiciary on legislative is inevitable because both have to make laws and therefore it is important for them to interact. So it can be seen that despite the “Constitutional Reforms Act 2005” there still is a not so strict separation among the powers.
Consequently, we can say that the UK has a unique system and its constitution is a balanced one. The constitution provides an effective checks and balance system which helps this system to function properly.
Separation of Powers in Uzbekistan:
Uzbekistan is constitutional republic and a sovereign state, unlike the UK which is a constitutional monarchy. The head of the state in Uzbekistan is the President. Moreover unlike the UK, Uzbekistan has a written constitution which provides a clear separation in the powers. According to Article 11 of the Uzbek Constitution:
“The principle of the separation of power between the legislative, executive, and judicial authorities shall underline the system of State authority in the Republic of Uzbekistan”.
The importance of separation of powers is visible in this article and as it states there are three branches of powers: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Executive Branch:
The executive branch constitutes of the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Cabinet of Ministers, The Minister Kenesi of Karakalpakstan and khokimiyats of the regions and cities. The main function of this branch is to formulate and enact policies.
Legislative Branch:
The legislative branch comprises of the Parliament (Oliy Majlis) of Uzbekistan and Djokarghi Kenes of Karakalpakstan. The Parliament is bicameral; it has two chambers: the Legislative Chamber (lower house) and the Senate (upper house).
Judicial Branch:
The judicial branch consists of: The Constitutional, the Supreme, the Supreme Economic, Supreme Military Courts of the Republic Uzbekistan, the Economic Court of the Republic of Karakalpakstan and other regional courts.
Uzbek System:
In theory the separation of powers is very strict and clearly defined. Moreover, the Uzbek government has introduced the system of checks and balances, in order to monitor and maintain the balance of powers. However, this is not the case in practice, because a high concentration of powers is exercised by the executive. For example, the executive appoints the judiciary and provides a nominee for the position of the Chairman of the senate.
The reason why the executive exercises a higher concentration of power can be found in the history of Uzbekistan. Since Uzbekistan used to be a part of the USSR (which was communist) the effect can be seen today. This “effect” is still present in Uzbekistan because the transitional period is still not over. However, we can assume that once the transition is over, Uzbekistan will not have this influence anymore.
Conclusion:
As a result of the research I conducted, I can say that separation of powers is probably the most important concept in a modern democratic society. It is essential to make sure that the powers are separated, because if this was not done then the whole system would be in danger of collapsing due to abuse of powers.
The importance of this concept is illustrated by the fact that almost every modern democracy uses it, the examples give above are Uzbekistan and the UK.
The Uzbek system is moving towards a liberal future and the separation of powers is being used greatly.
The UK was the first state to actually apply this concept and over the years there have been many changes. Despite the fact that it was UK from where the concept came into practice, we can say that the separation of powers is not strict there. The powers overlap and work together and this system works for the UK.
Bibliography:
Printed Sources:
Bradley, A.W. and Ewing, K. D. (2007). Constitutional and Administrative Law. 14th ed. Essex: Pearson Education Limited.
Martinez, C. (2010). Lecture 5 – Handout. WIUT: Tashkent.
Online Sources:
SoyuzPravoInform. (2010). Polity Uzbekistan. [Online] Available at: http://www.uz.spinform.ru/stroi.html [Accessed date: 19.12.2010]
Barnett, H. and Diamantide, B. (2007). Public Law. [Online] London: University of London. Available at: http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/current_students/programme_resources/laws/subject_guides/public_law/public_chs1to4.pdf [Accessed date: 20.12.2010]
Carlos Martinez – Handout 5.
A W Bradley & K D Ewing (2007)
Carlos Martinez – Handout 5.
http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/current_students/programme_resources/laws/subject_guides/public_law/public_ch4.pdf
http://www.uz.spinform.ru/stroi.html