What Is the Role of the Judiciary in a Democracy
Democracy is a system of governance, its origins dates back to Greece and ancient Athens between 421 and 322 B.C.
Most Western countries changed their system of governance to a representative democracy in the 19th century, mostly influenced by liberalism.
Democracy, in Greek, means “Power to the People”. In this system people vote for their president, choose from different parties.
In an authoritarian state, all powers are in the hand of one person, whereas in a democratic state, different institutions are in charge of different powers.
The government owns the executive, the parliament the legislative and the judges the judiciary.
The task of the judiciary is to settle conflicts between citizens and in some cases between the citizens and the state.
All the different powers in a democracy have a specific role. What is the role of the judiciary in a democracy?
We will try to answer that question in studying the democracy and the judiciary in the first part, and then see what is its role in a democracy.
In this first part we will study the democracy and the judiciary, as it is important to understand these two principles before analysing the role of the judiciary in a democracy. “Democracy is the worst form of government except all the other forms that have been tried from time to time”, said Winston Churchill in 1947.
From all other government organisation tried over the time, democracy is the fairest one for the people. First of all, for the first time, people vote for the politician they want to rule the country. In this organisation, hereditary or arbitrary class distinction or privileges normally disappear.
Today, the majority of countries in the world are republic. However, some important democracies in the world, such as the United-Kingdom, Luxembourg, Spain and other are constitutional monarchies. This means that having a King/Queen is not an important matter in a well being of a democracy.
Democracy is by far the most challenging
Most Western countries changed their system of governance to a representative democracy in the 19th century, mostly influenced by liberalism.
Democracy, in Greek, means “Power to the People”. In this system people vote for their president, choose from different parties.
In an authoritarian state, all powers are in the hand of one person, whereas in a democratic state, different institutions are in charge of different powers.
The government owns the executive, the parliament the legislative and the judges the judiciary.
The task of the judiciary is to settle conflicts between citizens and in some cases between the citizens and the state.
All the different powers in a democracy have a specific role. What is the role of the judiciary in a democracy?
We will try to answer that question in studying the democracy and the judiciary in the first part, and then see what is its role in a democracy.
In this first part we will study the democracy and the judiciary, as it is important to understand these two principles before analysing the role of the judiciary in a democracy. “Democracy is the worst form of government except all the other forms that have been tried from time to time”, said Winston Churchill in 1947.
From all other government organisation tried over the time, democracy is the fairest one for the people. First of all, for the first time, people vote for the politician they want to rule the country. In this organisation, hereditary or arbitrary class distinction or privileges normally disappear.
Today, the majority of countries in the world are republic. However, some important democracies in the world, such as the United-Kingdom, Luxembourg, Spain and other are constitutional monarchies. This means that having a King/Queen is not an important matter in a well being of a democracy.
Democracy is by far the most challenging
Bibliography: • Lane, J. and Ersson, S. 1999. Politics and society in western Europe. London : Sage publication. Fourth edition. • Price, j, 1970. Comparative governments, Four modern constitutions. London : Hutchinson Educational. • Merkl, P. 1977. Modern Comparative Politics. Hinsdale, Illinois : The Dryden Press • Gleeson, M. 1997. « The rôle of the judiciary in a modern democracy ». Available online at : http://www.jca.asn.au/attachments/gleeson.html • Sherbrooke University. « Pouvoir Judiciaire ». Available online at : http://perspective.usherbrooke.ca/bilan/servlet/BMDictionnaire?iddictionnaire=1637 • Mansour, E. 2000. « La problématique de l’indépendance du pouvoir judiciaire en Afrique de l’ouest ». Available online at : http://democratie.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/22-2.pdf • Chambre des représentant, Belgium. 2005. « Le pouvoir judiciaire : principe généraux ». Available online at : http://www.cmro-cmoj.be/pdf/pouvoir_judiciare_principes.pdf • Troper, M. 2005. « Le pouvoir judiciaire et la démocratie ». Available online at : http://www.ejls.eu/2/32FR.pdf