Independent Judiciary Or Extension Of The Executive Branch?

• Author: Derence A. Rolle Davis
• Pages: 98-108

Derence Rolle Davis

23. INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY OR

EXTENSION OF THE EXECUTIVE

BRANCH?

The government of The Bahamas wants to be clear on the desires and will

of the people. How is the will of the people expressed? It is through the

management of the laws and usages. The Bahamas has one of the oldest

Parliaments in the western hemisphere, dating back to 1729, and has enjoyed

democratically elected officials for most of its history. This same spirit is more

evident in the need for the separation of powers. This need for the division of

the branches of government will be made clearer in the discussion forthcoming.

Alexander Hamilton in The Federalist Papers , Number 78 advised that:

“Whoever attentively considers the different departments of power must

perceive that, in a government in which they are separated from each other,

the judiciary, from the nature of its functions, will always be the least

dangerous to the political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in

capacity to annoy or injure them. The Executive not only dispenses the

honours, but holds the sword of the community. The legislature not only

commands the purse, but prescribes the rules by which the duties and rights

of every citizen are to be regulated. The judiciary, on the contrary, has no

influence over either the sword or the purse; no direction either of the

strength or of the wealth of the society; and can take no active resolution

whatever. It may be truly said to have neither force nor will, but merely

judgment; and must ultimately depend upon the aid of the executive arm

even for the efficacy of its judgments.”

This quote is more than 200 years old yet still holds true today.

Taken at its highest, the government requires free flowing,

uncompromised and integrity-filled branches of government. Perhaps we should

take a moment to consider what the three branches are.

The first branch is that of the Executive, which consists in our

parliamentary system of the Governor General and the Cabinet, which is made

up of the Prime Minister and other ministers of the Government.

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