Rethinking the Doctrine of Separation of Powers

Drawing from the contestations about the doctrine of separation of powers in Chap. 6 , Chap. 7 contends that Papua New Guinea has a modified model of separation of powers doctrine. It argues that the liberal role of the judiciary not only departs from the traditional tripartite model of the doctrine of separation of powers, in which the role of the judiciary is restricted, but also asserts that the drafters of the Constitution have also embedded a set of independent constitutional institutions that do not fall under any of the conventional three arms of government—legislature, executive and judiciary. The chapter argues that the correct model of the doctrine of separation of powers under the Papua New Guina Constitution is a quadripartite or four arms of government model instead of the traditional three arms of government. It describes this model as the ‘home-grown’ model of separation of powers and argues that the judiciary, with its unusually liberal judicial powers, is best suited to and needs to be understood within that modified model of the separation of powers doctrine as opposed to the traditional tripartite model.