Overview
- 3L’s ultimate goal is that, wherever one stands on planet Earth, all laws in that place reflect at least a reasonable construction of the 3L Principle, and people fairly enforce them with due process.
- The 3L Philosophy does not prescribe exactly how the Legal Principle is implemented, enforced or adjudicated. There are multiple ways to accomplish these critical and necessary functions; no one approach will achieve perfection.
- Local communities may opt to separate the three branches of governance as key defense against abuse of power.
The three branches of governance
- The three branches of governance (known as the ‘Westminster model’) are
- The legislative branch (law-makers; those who interpret Legal Principle for the local community),
- The executive branch (law-enforcement) and
- The judicial branch (courts).
- A jury is an excellent way to safeguard against potential judicial overreach. Particularly in criminal court trials, a jury brings community judgment into the legal process, ensuring that verdicts reflect shared community values by allowing ordinary citizens to check the power of the prosecuting entity in criminal prosecutions.
- Separating these three branches, along with checks and balances may be prudent (some might argue indispensable) to maintaining a free society.
- The main risk is when judges start creating law; judicial activism. When a higher court finds that a law infringes on a person’s freedom and invalidates it, this is not making law but simply being an appropriate watchdog.
