DE PODER NULO A SUPERPODER: O JUDICIÁRIO DE MONTESQUIEU, REVISITADO | FROM NULL TO SUPER-POWER: MONTESQUIEU’S JUDICIARY REVIEWED

This article discusses the Judiciary within the doctrine of separation of powers, aiming to provide historical and political data that could explain judicial protagonism. This is achieved through book reviews of contemporary political science literature and classic authors from the 18 th century. Therefore, it aims to examine in depth some chapters of Montesquieu’s “Spirit of laws” classic book, expressing how its theory of judicial power was deeply linked with ancient régime’s judicial system, in a context where 18 th century French Judiciary Power was a great source of threat to both political and legislative powers. The paper addresses how the American Constitution bended the original theory, moving from an absolute separation of powers towards a super-powered Judiciary in defence of individual liberties, acting as counterbalance to state assemblies and local political powers. In conclusion, it stands that Judicial Power protagonism doesn’t violate the classic theory of separation of powers