Separation of Powers - An Overview

• Pages: 151-155

151

Balkan Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

IIPCCL Publishing, Graz-Austria

ISSN 2410-759X

Acces online at www.iipccl.org

Vol. 7 No.1

May, 2021

Separation of Powers - An Overview

PhD (C.) Mirgeta Kapa

University of Tirana, Albania

Introduction

The term “Trias Politica” or “Separation of Powers” was coined by Charles-Louis de Secondat,

baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, an 18th century French social and political philosopher.

His publication, “Spirit of the Laws”, is considered one of the great works in the history of

political theory and jurisprudence, and it inspired the Declaration of the Rights of Man and

the Constitution of the United States.

Under his model, the political authority of the state is divided into legislative, executive and

judicial powers. He asserted that, to most eectively promote liberty, these three powers must

be separate and acting independently.

Separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of government responsibilities into

distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another.

The intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.

Constitutions specify that government be divided into three branches: legislative, executive

and judicial.

While separation of powers is key to the workings of government, no democratic system

exists with an absolute separation of powers or an absolute lack of separation of powers.

Governmental powers and responsibilities intentionally overlap; they are too complex and

interrelated to be neatly compartmentalized.

As a result, there is an inherent measure of competition and conict among the branches of

government. Throughout history, there also has been an ebb and ow of preeminence among

the governmental branches. Such experiences suggest that where power resides is part of an

evolutionary process.

Keywords: Separation of Powers, Overview.

Introduction

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, was born on

January 19th, 1689 at La Brède, near Bordeaux, to a noble and prosperous family.

He was educated at the Oratorian Collège de Juilly, received a law degree from the

University of Bordeaux in 1708, and went to Paris to continue his legal studies. On the

death of his father in 1713 he returned to La Brède to manage the estates he inherited,

and in 1715 he married Jeanne de Lartigue, a practicing Protestant, with whom he

had a son and two daughters.

In 1716 he inherited from his uncle the title Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu

and the oce of Président à Mortier in the Parlement of Bordeaux, which was at the

time chiey a judicial and administrative body. For the next eleven years he presided

over the Tournelle, the Parlement’s criminal division, in which capacity he heard legal

proceedings, supervised prisons, and administered various punishments including

torture. During this time he was also active in the Academy of Bordeaux, where he

kept abreast of scientic developments, and gave papers on topics ranging from the