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Lecture notes of 9 pages for the course Public Law at ULaw (public law)
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Zain Khan mirza – w1735353Public law
Q1. With the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the UK can now be said to have achieved a full and
effective separation of powers.
In the following I will be discussing and analysing the above statement in detail and how it may be
correct in many different ways. In order for a democratic government to function and carry out their
jobs effectively , there must be some sort of separation of powers distributed amongst the
government, this has been made more effective since the introduction of the constitutional reform
act.
The constitutional reform act 20051 was an act introduced by the UK parliament , that has made
numerous changes to the Houses of Parliament and the UK government as a whole. This focuses on
clearer separation of Judiciary from other branches of the government , it also adds in a sense of
judicial independence and as a result the Lord Chancellor is no longer involved in all three branches
of State, but remains involved in Executive and Legislature. This has made the separation of powers
more effective , as one of the main purposes of this act was to provide more stricter regulations on
the separation of powers amongst the UK government and to further divide and ensure the
separation of powers between the legislature and the judiciary in accordance to the European court
of human rights. The constitutional reform act has led the government into having much more
clearer and divided powers. As a result , it can be said that the UK has now achieved a full and
effective separation of powers .
The main concerns of the constitutional reform act were 2; the office of the lord of chancellor, the
introduction and setting out plans for a UK supreme court and the last reform was the regulation on
the appointment of judges.
The first issue of the office of the lord chancellor was changed and there was a number of
arrangements made , in order to alter the office of the lord chancellor, because prior to this, the lord
chancellor needed little qualifications and experience to become part of the office . One example of
how this was eradicated was that, the act introduced the conditions that the prime minster could
only advocate and recommend a person for the job if ‘they were qualified by experience’. The act
also restricted the powers of the lord chancellor, as a result .
The second change introduced by the act was to set out the framework and a plan for a new UK
supreme court , which would ultimately replace the house of lords and become a new independent
judiciary body and being completely separate from parliament and current members have no right
to vote or sit in the house of commons .This has been instrumental in achieving separation of
powers as it means the powers of the peers are restricted and distributed to others equally .
The third part of the act was to regulate constantly the appointment of the judiciary system , this
comes after heavy criticism of the appointment of judges from the queen and the defects involved
and there since has been a new judicial commission. All three changes and additions introduced by
the act have played huge roles in making the separation of powers more effective .
1
Hazell, R.J.D., 2015. Judicial independence and accountability in the UK have both emerged stronger as a result of the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Public Law, 2015, pp.198-206.
2
Hazell, R.J.D., 2015. Judicial independence and accountability in the UK have both emerged stronger as a result of the
Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Public Law, 2015, pp.198.
, Zain Khan mirza – w1735353
The Separation of powers is a doctrine ,developed by The French jurist and theorist , Montesquieu 3,
and a theory of power distribution between three main branches of state – Legislature, Executive,
Judiciary. The main purpose and aim is to avoid any sense of dictatorship and to ensure no one
abuses their power .The separation of powers also protects individual liberty, and allows for an
efficient government, as well as preventing one person from being in all three branches of state,
which has been made more effective since the introduction of the constitutional reform act . The
three main branches are4 : the legislature , the executive and judiciary.
The Legislature has the power to govern by creating policy, this is given to the parliament to make all
the decisions within the UK , includes governors/government , prime ministers and the cabinet.
Executive has the power to enact government policy into statute and to fulfil all the day to day
activities , these would include the police, ministers and etc, who supervise and enforce the law.
Judiciary has the power to apply and enforce statute, as well as supervise the actions of the
executive and ensuring that the rule of law is being abided .
Prior to the introduction of the act in 2005 , ministers and members of the executive branch also sat
at the House of commons , as MPs, another example of how positive the constitutional reform act
has been and how it has made the separation of powers more effective . Bill of Rights 16895 was the
historically the final break in separation of power and the main procedure for law-making, as it
defined the limits of royal power, fair trial before the courts free of any interference from the
government. Crown not immune from actions by citizens.
hecks & Balances –
makes each branch of
government
accountable to the other
–
in UK government
ministers who are
3
Krause, S., 2000. The spirit of separate powers in Montesquieu. The Review of Politics, pp.231-265.
4
https://www.supremecourt.uk
5
Amar, A.R., 1991. The Bill of Rights as a Constitution. Yale Law Journal, pp.1131-1210.
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