The Separation of Powers in the Contemporary Constitution

This book examines the dividing lines between the powers of the judicial branch of government and those of the executive and legislative branches in the light of two of the most significant constitutional reforms of recent years: the Human Rights Act 1998 and Constitutional Reform Act 2005. Both statutes have implications for the separation of powers within the United Kingdom constitution. The Human Rights Act brings the judges into much closer proximity with the decisions of political actors than previously permitted by the Wednesbury standard of review and the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. While, arguably by contrast, the Constitutional Reform Act marks the emergence of an institutionally independent judicial branch. Taken together, the two legislative schemes form the backbone of a more comprehensive system of constitutional checks and balances policed by a judicial branch underpinned by the legitimacy of institutional independence. For law and politics readers on constitutional reform globally.

• Examines the constitutional dividing lines between judicial, executive and legislative powers in the UK constitution
• Examines the theory and practice of the Human Rights Act (1998) and the institutional reforms prompted by the Constitutional Reform Act (2005) from a separation-of-powers perspective
• Argues that the contemporary separation of powers possesses characteristics which will survive the mooted repeal and/or amendment of the Human Rights Act