BRIEFING CHECKS AND BALANCES: WHAT ARE THEY, AND WHY DO THEY MATTER?

Background The importance of checks and balances is often cited in debates about the health of democracy, and their erosion is widely considered a sign of democratic backsliding. [...] The relationship between courts, parliament and the executive is designed to uphold the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty: the courts ensure that the executive acts within the law, but the law itself is set by parliament. [...] Hence the courts interpret, but cannot overturn, primary legislation; and if the majority in parliament dislikes the law as interpreted by the courts, parliament can change the law. [...] • The impartial civil service, which serves the government of the day, operates as a balance within the executive. [...] The executive has a particularly important part to play in safeguarding checks and balances by engaging with parliamentary scrutiny, behaving appropriately toward the courts and the civil service, and respecting regulators.