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OPINION: Dinsdale Piranha, the Supreme Court, and the death of the separation of powers

The Royal coat of arms and signage pictured on external wall of the Royal Courts Of Justice on the Strand in central London on June 16, 2017 in London,England.
Photo: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images

The Court should act as a last defense; instead, its abdication exemplified in the Shvidler v FCDO case represents a threat to liberty in Britain, says Roger Gherson.

Montesquieu taught us that liberty survives only where power is divided. The executive, the legislature, and the judiciary must restrain each other, or tyranny will follow. The Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Shvidler v FCDO; Dalston Projects Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport [2025] UKSC 30 shows how

Sanctions and

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