Separation of Powers

Every modern state stands on four basic pillars also termed as organs of the state. These include Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and Media.

Media has been considered as one of the pillars in modern world as the role of media in the state affairs has gained much importance. In the developed countries of the world, wherein media has been structured on the basis of modern technology and active role of journalism, it has proved to be a check on other pillars.

All the four organs of the state play their role in the development of a state and it is their appropriate interaction that can make a state function successfully. Every state is formed in order to guarantee the rights of its citizens. Modern welfare states even move one step ahead by announcing the role of the state to be the welfare of all its members. So they believe that state in itself is not an end rather it is a mean to an end i.e. welfare of the people.

In order for a state to function in such a way so as to guarantee the welfare of the most of its citizens there should be ‘Separation of Powers’ among the organs of the state. The separation of powers suggests that different organs of the state have the capacity to function on their own, without any compelling influence from other organs. This guarantees accountability and fair play in the matters of the government.

The concept of the separation of power, though introduced in modern politics by Montesquieu, has its root in ancient Greece and was widely practiced during the Roman Republic. Therefore, the name Trias Politica which is a substitute for the ‘Separation of Power’ has Greek root, though the structure of legislature, judiciary and executive were not in the way they exist in modern states.

Montesquieu, a French political thinker who lived during the Enlightenment in Europe, came with the idea of separation of powers to guarantee that the different organs of the state function as per their own specialties and responsibilities and are not hijacked by the ruling elite for their own self-centered benefits. Montesquieu was greatly influenced by the political setup of Great Britain and considered it a great example of separation of powers.

He emphasized on the separation with the fears that if judiciary is not separated from the executive or legislature, there is every possibility that the law is manipulated for safeguarding the interests of the ruling elite. He emphasized particularly on a separate judiciary saying that “the independence of the judiciary has to be real and not apparent merely”. From ‘real’ he meant that judiciary must be separate in its function practically not just theoretically.

It has been one of the most dominating demands of the justice that the makers of the law themselves should also be put to trial and even punished for their violation of the law. As in most of the human societies, the ruling elite have been so easily capable of using the law for their own benefit that there emerged a belief in politics that ‘justice is the will of the rich’. Once the rich and the powerful in society become strong enough so as to undermine the law and order system, the doom of the system is ascertained from that particular point.

Legislature within a state has the task of making laws. This mostly includes the parliament irrespective of being unicameral or bicameral. It all depends upon is the capacity of the parliament to make laws. And all the forms of government whether parliamentary or presidential need to have the basic pillars, but in the presidential form of government, the separation of powers becomes very evident or even essential.

The executive formed in a presidential form of a government is not necessarily party members elected by the people, except for the president. The presidential system of America is one of the most dominant and successful presidential systems in the world that can be used as an example. The cabinet formed by the president, mostly comprises the people who are specialized professionals, and not necessarily politicians.

The cabinet in America is one of the strongest political bodies in the world. It can do anything, except for violating the law. Further, it cannot completely control the legislature and stands completely separated from the judiciary. The judiciary can take legal actions against whosoever violates the law. Even the American president has to appear for a judicial procedure.

Ironically, there are many precedents in Pakistan where even the courts remained silent on the matters regarding the violation of the constitution of the country. The executive on the other hand, though striving to a certain extent to prove its separate identity, has not been able to influence the policies of the executive and has only been able to fall in a dispute with the judiciary. The clashes between the judiciary and the legislature are a clear example. This is not what the separation of power suggests. Definitely, it seeks for the accountability of one organ by others but never suggests the deadlocks that are generated by the clashes.

For a better performance, the government has to make sure that the different organs of the state have all the potential to function on their own and, at the same time, have the capacity to hold one another accountable.