Constitutionalism In The Government

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Constitutionalism is an idea that places limitations on the powers utilised in governing the governed. In a modern democratic society, the government should uphold constitutionalism. Yet, such idea is not easy to be accomplished as there are many concepts such as rule of law, separation of powers, civil liberties and open government that need to be fulfilled in the same time. Since the term ‘constitutionalism’ implies the idea of limited powers of government, a country which upholds such idea should practice separation of power and also checks and balances. The concept of separation of power advocates for splitting up power between different governments bodies to ensure that no one has excessive power. It can uphold rights and liberties of…show more content…
The Prime Minister and the cabinet not only act as executives but also Members of Parliament and sit in the Parliament. This fusion of powers is contrary to a certain extent the concept of separation of powers which is made to prevent abuse of power and safeguard the civil rights of people. This is because the executives in Malaysia and United Kingdom over checks and balances. For instance, the government will not resign even though the Parliament can remove the executive by majority of vote of no confidence. This is because in reality, the Parliament is controlled by the executive which is the ruling party in the Parliament. Thus, if the government has done something such as implementing laws that infringed the fundamental rights and liberties of people, the government will not be removed and can continue govern the…show more content…
The formation of tribunal courts is itself a breach of separation of power as the tribunal court judges are part of the executive but exercising judicial function. The chairpersons of administrative tribunals are not full-time judges and usually they are politicians with no legal qualifications. These judges also breach the principle of Natural Justice namely nemo iudex in sua causa as judges should not have interest in the case in question especially when the case involves government bodies and individuals. In this sense, individuals are not secured with the right of equality before law as individuals are at a disadvantage in tribunal courts. Moreover, some of their decisions cannot be appealed in court as they are the final decider. This actually denies the right to have access to justice of individual. Therefore, the institution of tribunal court is infringing individual rights to a certain
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