Hey Everyone!.. and most importantly all of you from the UK! I do hope that tagging you all is not too much trouble.. its not something I've done before, and nor do i intend to do it again.. but once in a while we hear about something that SEEMS to have slipped under the net. It's fair to say that there are so many distractions that we may totally miss a piece of legislation that threatens to undermine the way that the UK government has, until now,. remained somewhat checked and balanced .. Let me explain!...
I was watching a YouTube video yesterday from the 'blackbeltbarrister'. He has set up a petition in order to bring attention to a recent news article written by the Times Newspaper. The article speaks about a new act that is being discussed by the current UK Government, led by the one and only Boris Johnson. Let me just say that it is becoming increasingly obvious that he and his assistants seem to be making a mockery of our democracy, and today's news only serves to highlight quite how bad things have become.
We all know that our politicians are compulsive and paid liars, but who knew that they even practice lying together! Well today ITV have had enough of this charade and have published quite disturbing footage of his staff trying to see how they can deceive us about the most controversial issue of them holding a party at 10 Downing Street whilst the rest of the UK population were in full lockdown.
Please feel free to check that out in the below:
Today Boris Johnson is hanging on to his Leadership by a very thin thread.. but lets be honest.. it doesn't really matter who is in power these days as the same strings are always pulled by those with the money and power to really influence Uk law.
Speaking of UK law, this brings me to the main point of this post! Those of you who have studied politics will have heard of a rather old and very important part of the UK political system. It is called the Separation of powers, and it seeks to maintain some kind of checks and balances on the law makers. Under this rule the state is divided into three different branches- legislative, executive and judiciary each having different independent power and responsibility on them so that one branch may not interfere with the working of the others two branches.
These rules have been in place since 1748, and most importantly allow judges and their interpretations of the law to be independent and free. Whilst im sure you can find many examples of judges being imperfect, they have until now had a great measure of freedom to judge and set precedent on many laws. They are immune from any government pressure or influence (at least legally speaking), and have almost total freedom to say and do whatever they deem to be just. They are quite powerful and represent the best checks and balances that we have to ensure that Government can be held accountable for their actions. No one else can punish or overturn the Governments rules except judges! You could say the House of Lords have this power, but that is very rarely exercised and most of them are just puppets or former politicians.
The Times Newspaper has reported that the UK Government, currently led by Boris Johnson, seeks to implement a new law that allows it to overrule and reverse the decisions of the Judiciary that it doesn't like by way of an "annual review" of the courts' decisions - the "Interpretation Bill".
Why is this important?
The separation of powers is critical to safeguard citizens' rights and liberties and guard against tyranny.
The Supreme Court explains further:
One of the earliest and clearest statements of the separation of powers was given by French social commentator and political thinker Montesquieu in 1748:
‘When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty... there is no liberty if the powers of judging is not separated from the legislative and executive... there would be an end to everything, if the same man or the same body... were to exercise those three powers.’
According to a strict interpretation of the separation of powers, none of the three branches may exercise the power of the other, nor should any person be a member of
any two of the branches. By creating separate institutions it is possible to have a system of checks and balances between them.
But the United Kingdom does not have a classic separation of powers that, for example, applies in the United States.
Quoting the Times:
Jolyon Maugham QC, director of the Good Law Project, which brought a series of legal challenges over Brexit, said: “It is clear to me that the real aim of this government is a more compliant judiciary. It’s very important the government doesn’t do anything more to weaken the delicate constitutional balance we have. This executive can and does bully its MPs to get what it wants . . . All judges do is uphold the will of parliament.”
The bottom line:
If the Government succeeds in this 'annual interpretation' of judicial decisions, together with the power to reverse and/or overrule decisions it does not like, it will, in essence, diminish the authority of the judiciary and give the Government far too much control over the lives of the citizens of the United Kingdom.
This is serious stuff and represents a major change in some fundamental rules that have 'kept us safe' from laws that are unjust or unconstitutional. If you would like to listen to what the blackbeltlawyer has to say on the matter you can watch this clip below.
IF you think this is not OK, I urge you to please sign the petition. You can also sign this if you are NOT from the UK so this petition is open to everyone. You can find and sign it here:
Thank you for listening, and please do share your opinions in the comments. Do you think the time has come for Boris? Who will replace him? Does it even matter!?
TAGS HAVE BEEN REMOVED>> PLEASE EXCUSE ME IF THIS WAS AN ISSUE FOR YOU..