PUBLIC LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

PUBLIC LAW - Essay Example The legislative or law-making function, which is the enactment of rules for the society. The executive or law-applying function, which covers actions taken to maintain or implement the law, defend he state, conduct external affairs and administer internal policies. Finally came the judicial or law enforcing function, which is the determining of civil disputes and the publishing of criminals by deciding issues of fact and applying the law. The three functions of government should be carried out by separate persons or bodies and that each branch of government should only carry out its own function. For instance, the legislature, executive and judicial branches should have equal status so each could control the excessive use of power by another branch2[Constitutional and Administrative Law Pg 105]. The doctrine of separation of powers has been attributed to Aristotle3. However, the clearest exposition of the doctrine can be found in the France writer Baron de Montesquieu's De L'Esprit des Lois (The Spirit of the Laws) [1952]. In order to answer this question it is necessary to discuss about the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, the relationship between executive and legislature, legislature and judiciary; executive and judiciary. ... The Constitutional Reform Act modifies the office of Lord Chancellor and makes changes to the way in which some of the functions vested in that office are to be exercised. Part 2 of this Act modifies the office of Lord Chancellor and provides for the future exercise of certain functions of that office and for continued judicial independence4. [Constitutional and Administrative Law Pg 109] The Executive: The Executive may be defined as that branch of the state which formulates policy and is responsible for its execution. In formal terms, the sovereign is the head of executive. The Prime Minister, Cabinet and other ministers, for the most part, are elected Members of Parliament. In addition, the Civil Service, local authorities, police and armed forces, constitute the executive in practical terms. The legislature: The Queen of the parliament is the sovereign law making body within the United Kingdom. Formally expressed, parliament comprises the Queen, the HL and House of Commons. Parliament is bicameral, that is to say there are two chambers, each exercising a legislative role-although not having equal powers-and each playing a part in ensuring the accountability of the government. The judiciary: The judiciary is that branch of the state which adjudicates upon conflicts between state institutions, between state and individual, and between individuals. The judiciary is independent of both parliament and the executive. It is the prime feature of judicial independence which is of prime importance both in relation to government according to law and in the protection of liberty of the citizen against the executive. As Blackstone observed in his Commentaries that the administration of common justice be in some degree separated both from the legislative and