The actions of the chief justice undermine the independence, impartiality and competence of the judiciary, which erodes public confidence in the courts.
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Articles on Separation of powers
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The appointment of judges has hitherto been an obscure and oftentimes clandestine affair. This has produced incompetent judges and led to claims that the judiciary is beholden to the executive.
The judicial process in South Africa is hugely contested. This places an exaggerated burden on the courts to act with maximum independence and impartiality.
When presidents have tried to address pressing issues through executive action, members of Congress are quick to ask the courts to step in.
By trying to circumvent the courts, the government is undermining both the rule of law and separation of powers. There is also collateral damage to the rule of law.
In cases testing the limits of presidential power, the Supreme Court ruled the president has no special protections that exempt him from complying with subpoenas from Congress or state grand juries.
Could defiance of court orders at the highest level undermine the Constitution’s authority in the eyes of American citizens?
The doctrine of equality is ingrained both in theory and in the express provisions of Lesotho’s constitution.
Declaring an issue is a national emergency lets presidents act quickly and with few constraints. But once they get this kind of power, it’s hard to take it back – and it can produce bad policies.
President Trump’s likely to be acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial. But the impeachment’s effects won’t end until lawsuits are resolved.
An expert on Watergate says that today’s House Republicans have taken precisely the opposite position than the GOP took in 1974 on the president’s power to withhold documents from Congress.
The impeachment vote is the latest, and most extreme, example of a power struggle between the executive branch and Congress that has existed since George Washington was president.
The process known as policy analysis requires careful consideration and deliberation. In most cases, the public also gets to weigh in.
The Trump administration has once again tried to change immigration law, this time enacting severe limits on the rights of asylum-seekers. An immigration law expert says only Congress can do that.
President Trump has invoked executive privilege to stymie congressional investigators. Another president, Richard Nixon, did the same thing. It helped Nixon hold onto power – but only for a while.
The constitutional conflict between Congress and President Trump over his emergency declaration has potential to undermine centuries of checks and balances between the two branches of government.
Will the public ever see a report from Robert Mueller’s investigation of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia? Maybe not. There are big legal hurdles to making it public.
After the recent government shutdown and breakdowns in functioning within all three branches, it looks like the separation of powers system is broken or unbalanced. It is – and it isn’t.
Under new WA legislation, the state’s attorney-general has the power to order serial killers and mass murders remain in jail, sometimes without judicial review.
South Africa’s local governments lack a clear separation of legislative and executive powers.
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Professor of Law, University of the Witwatersrand
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Professor of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in American Studies, University of East Anglia
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Research Specialist, the Miller Center, University of Virginia
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Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Sydney
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Professor of American Politics, Fairleigh Dickinson University
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Senior Lecturer in Law, City, University of London
