Separation of powers is one of the most basic principles democratic states are based on. Still, there is No. common standpoint what exactly separation of powers means. The present essay examines the ideas of Rousseau, Marxist scholars and some modern theorists concerning separation of powers and checks and balances mechanisms that exist in the legal system. The author analyses as well how the different powers balance each other in practice.

The article is devoted to the study of the mechanisms of influence of the institute of constitutional justice on the processes of balancing power in a democratic state and formulating conclusions on the basic principles of reforming the domestic constitutional model of relevant legal relations. The author states that the special status of constitutional justice bodies within the continental model, in particular the status of the Constitutional Court of Ukraine between branches of government, is due to the important mission of constitutional justice bodies to find a fine line between positive, natural law and political influence of different branches of government. The corresponding task allows to make certain analogies with the status of some other subjects of power. The key difference between the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, as a subject of relations between the branches of government, is much greater, and even in fact - the maximum distance from each of these branches. Such a model becomes especially relevant when the legislature, executive and president are representatives of the same political force, when the body of constitutional jurisdiction actually remains the only entity capable of resisting the possible intentions of the respective forces to “control” the judiciary. At the same time, the special status of the bodies of constitutional justice, along with the institutional provision of their maximum distance from any single branch of government, is also guaranteed by the requirements of professionalism of their staffand a certain degree of independence from electoral sentiment.

100 years of defining the Polish model of “separation” of the judiciary – what we had, what we have and what we might want to have

The subject of the study is an analysis of over a hundred years of practice defining the role and political position of courts in Poland. The verification will be subject to compliance in the practice of exercising power not only with constitutional provisions (or indicating the reasons and consequences of their omission), but also with other regulations that accompany the creation and application of specific legal solutions in the context of guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary. At the same time, the assessment of the adopted solutions in terms of respect for the standards developed by international bodies for the protection of individual freedoms and rights and EU bodies was taken into account.

A few remarks on the political position of the Argentine National Congress

The content of these short reflections contained in the article is the issue of the political position of the Argentine National Congress. In it, the author analyzes those regulations of the constitution which define the place and role of the lrgislative body within the presidential system of government. It focuses primarily on presenting the status of the parliament in the light of constitutional principles of the system in particular the principle of separation of powers. He then points to the mutual relations between the National Congress and the executive branch which are decisive for the effective status of the federal parliament. At the same time, he tries to show the impact of the 1994 revision of the constitution on the political position of the National Congress, which resulted in the introduction of certain elements of the parliamentary system of government into the political system of Argentina.

The government legislative process as proof of the fictitious division of powers in Poland

The article is devoted to the analysis of the government’s legislative process in the context of Poland’s political regime conditions. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to the specifics of the government’s legislative process and explain its significant drawbacks. The author tries to show that the transparency of the legislation has been disturbed and that, in this context, there is a deformation of the separation of powers. Government and parliamentary centres interpenetrate each other, and the observed functional unity of the executive and legislative authorities, which proves a secure management method, causes the prevailing legislative discourse to be illusory essentially. It does not strengthen the quality of the law being created in Poland. Unfortunately, the observation of negative phenomena after the 2015 elections confirms these trends.

The Influence of the Constitutional Principle of Subsidiarity on the Shape and Functioning of Local Government

In the contemporary literature on the subject, there is no doubt that local government performs tasks of a public nature. It is also acceptable for the local government to use legal instruments typical of the state authority. However, the issue of the principle of division of powers between the state and local government is disputed. If the existence of a local government equipped with its own, independently performed scope of tasks and responsibilities has been recognized as a legal principle of constitutional rank, then the division of tasks cannot be made in an optimal way only between separate state authorities (this is the so-called horizontal separation of powers). This division should be “vertical”, i.e. by allowing other non-state entities, mainly local governments, to perform state functions. Both the doctrine and the European community use the principle of subsidiarity when resolving the problem of separation of powers.

równowagaThe aim of this paper is the structuralist study of constitutional law teaching: the organization of constitutional law based on the three foundations of neoconstitutionalism. The systemic vision of the legal system involves not only perceiving the Law as a whole but visualizing all this from a fundamental law that serves as an interpretive basis. It’s conceived that constitutional law, in a broad sense, encompasses constitutional theory and constitutional law. It’s subdivided into separation of powers, balance between powers, and guarantee of rights. All other themes, in this regard, would derive from these three bases. It involves the organization of powers, control of constitutionality, and fundamental rights. Thus, for example, the study of the organization of each of the powers, the control of constitutionality and fundamental rights, correspondingly. This format allows a holistic view of constitutional law and the constitutions.