The Law Blog

The state is a machine that has to function according to a set of rules. How the machine is organized varies from state to state, according to the political ideology the state has adhered to. The separation of powers in the state must differ, but everywhere in the world there are some functions that specific institutions have to fulfill. The predominant model is the three-branched one, where the main powers in the state are the legislative, the executive and the judiciary. Civil society is also considered an institution, endowed with freedoms and rights.

The legislative, commonly known as the parliament, is the legal institution which can conceive and pass the laws of the state. This can be unicameral or bicameral and in order for a new law to be passed, the majority of the members of the parliament must vote for the bill (the proposed law), in each house. The executive, an equally important institution of the state, is appointed by the legislature and is the center of political authority in the government. Its role is most often to propose legislature and the political agenda. It is also responsible with the daily administration of the state bureaucracy, and has three main components: the head of the government, the foreign minister and the commander in chief, which is the leader of the national army.

But at the tip of the hierarchy there are the legislative and the executive powers. As their names suggest, the first one is charged to pass, amend and repeal laws, while the second is the only organism allowed to deal with state’s bureaucracy. The first is the Parliament and the second – the Government. Parliaments can be unicameral or bicameral, but everywhere in the world, they are the only institutions that can pass bills.

Once the law exists, another institution must make sure it is abode by and applied. This is the judiciary, or the judicial system, which consists of judges who mediate the disputes within the state. There must be made a difference: judicial institutions do not enforce the law or make it, but they interpret and apply it. The higher judicial organism in the state is the Supreme Court, bearing different names according to different states and their internal organization.

The last step is to enforce the law when it isn’t respected, whether it is between states or members of the same state. In this sense, we must distinguish between the military and the police, two separate organisms which don’t get confounded. The military can deal with external conflicts and threats and it is authorized from the start to use force and lethal weapons, but it also has numerous functions when wars aren’t going on. The police can too make use of force, but only in cases when they have to protect properties or avert cases of disorder. They are not bound to military forces and cannot defend the state against foreign aggressors. Ideally, in a perfect society all legal institutions must work together for the interest of the people and that of the state.

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