Contribution by the Honourable Mr Justice M.M. Nicolatos, President of the Supreme Court of Cyprus
"The doctrine of separation of Powers was first recognised by
Aristotle in his work «Πολιτικά» «On Politics» 25 centuries ago. Much later, it was further developed by
Montesquieu in his work «De l’ esprit des Lois».
Today, the separation
of Powers is considered as a necessary ingredient of Democracy and of the Rule
of Law.
Separation
of Powers means that each Power of the State (Executive, Legislative and
Judicial) function independently, within their own field of activity and do not
interfere in each other’s domain.
In Cyprus,
the doctrine of separation of Powers is fully applicable and respected. The Constitution protects and safeguards the
independence of each Power of the State.
If there is interference of one Power in another Power’s field, it will
be declared unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, by the Supreme Court
acting in its capacity as Supreme Constitutional Court.
Applicability
of the doctrine of separation of Powers presupposes the existence of an honest,
independent, impartial and courageous Judiciary. This is achieved only if the Judges enjoy
security of tenure and emoluments, and if they are and feel absolutely
independent in the exercise of their judicial duties.
It is not
only a question of Constitutional and Legal provisions, it is also a question
of culture and mentality both of Judges and of other officials of the State, as
well as the people in general. Such
culture and mentality, that allows Judges to be truly independent, is much more
difficult to be built than changes in Constitutions or in Laws.
New
Democracies, in Europe and beyond, should not only provide safeguards for the
independence of the Judiciary, but they should educate their officials and
their citizens to respect Judicial Independence, in fact. In parallel, Judges should be educated to act
courageously in protecting their independence from any undue interference.
The
mentality of the civil servant does not have any place in the Judiciary. Judges are, in no way, civil servants but
independent officials of the State, that exercise State Power, in the
performance of their daily duties.
Only with
independent and courageous Judges we can have Separation of Powers and only
with Separation of Powers we can have Rule of Law, Democracy and effective
Respect for Human Rights". (supremecourt.gov.cy)
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