The gradual process of overlap between the roles of judges and ministers has occurred is a corollary to understanding the reasons as to why this has happened. In particular I shall be focusing on the relationship between judges and politicians over the last 30 years till present day. My discussions will inevitably refer more broadly to members of the judiciary and the executive (the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and other ministers) and an analysis of their interplay within the UK constitution. This is an exciting area of politics at the moment with major constitutional reforms taking place. I shall first discuss the doctrine of separation of powers as this forms the backdrop to the theoretical base upon which the relationship between the judiciary and executive is formed.
Separation of powers
The roots of the separation of powers doctrine can be traced back as far as Aristotle. The modern doctrine has been espoused by the French philosopher Montesquieu in the 18th century.
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English: Queen Anne in the House of Lords
Map of the countries with anglosaxon legal systems...He suggested that government powers should not be left completely in the hands of one person or body and he identified three major functions of government. These were the legislative or law-making function, the executive or law-applying function and the judicial or law-enforcing function. He stated that the three functions should be kept separate in two ways; different persons or bodies should exercise each power and one branch of government should not exercise the power of another eg. the executive should not legislate. However, he accepted some overlapping as long as one function did not exercise the whole power of another function.
In fact, Montesquieu's theory was derived from his observation of Britain's constitution. His theories were popular and were incorporated into several written constitutions such as those of France and the USA where there are an intricate...