THE SEPARATION OF POWERS AND THE JUDICIARY IN 

 FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES 



BY FERDINAND LARNAUDE 



(Translated by Maurice Leon, Esq., of the New York Bar) 



[Ferdinand Larnaude, Professor of Public and General Law in the University of 

 Paris, b. at Condon (Gers), May 21, 1853. Doctor of Law from the Faculty 

 of Law of Paris, 1876; in charge of the course on Roman Law in the Faculty 

 of Law at Aix, 1877; Fellow in charge of the course on International Law in 

 the Faculty of Law at Bordeaux, 1878; Fellow in charge of the course on 

 General History of Law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Paris, 

 1882; Assistant Professor in charge of the course on Public Law in the Faculty 

 of Law at the University of Paris, 1890; Professor of Public and General Law 

 in the University of Paris, 1892. Member of the Consulting Committee on 

 Public Education in the Ministry of Public Instruction; member of the Com- 

 mission for the Revision of the Civil Code; member of the General Society of the 

 Prisons; of the Society of Comparative Legislation; Secretary-General of the 

 Society of Higher Education; founder of the Revue du Droit Public et de la 

 Science Politique en France et a VEtranger. Author of Etude sur la Publicity; 

 des Donations; Les Codes Francais au Japan; Droit Compare et Droit Public; 

 La Re forme des Lois sur les Alicnes; Le Code Civil et la Necessite de sa Revision; 

 Le Droit Public et la Science Politique; La Loi sur les Accidents du Travail; and 

 many essays and articles on various legal topics.] 



I APOLOGIZE for having to address you in French, but I speak so 

 little of your language that I fear, if I should express myself in 

 English, it might result in a mishap similar to the one which befell 

 President Montesquieu, the illustrious author of L'Esprit des 

 Lois. He attempted to engage a nobleman, whom he was visiting 

 during his sojourn in England, in a conversation, and addressed him 

 in English; his host solemnly answered, " Did I not tell you, sir, 

 that I cannot understand French? " 



I also apologize for bringing before you too hasty and improvised 

 a communication. Invited to your Congress too late, and compelled, 

 in order to reach here in time, to start without having a chance to 

 think over my subject, or even selecting it, I have had to prepare 

 my address on board the steamer which brought me to these shores, 

 with the pitching and rolling of the liner to assist me. Under these 

 circumstances my address will necessarily bear the marks of its 

 origin; it will be like those children who have had an infancy of 

 ailment and who remain weak and puny all through their lives. 



It is now somewhat over a hundred years since the principle of 

 the separation of powers was introduced in constitutional and com- 

 mon legislation, both in the United States and in France. What 

 has come out of this principle? How did it fare on coming in con- 

 tact with facts? What is its present standing? Would Montesquieu 

 recognize it under the various forms, I might say disguises, which it 

 has assumed? Or would he complain that his great invention had 



