Montesquieu belonged to an aristocratic family. He was born in 1689 at Bordeaux in the famous family of a judge. After having received education in France, Montesquieu travelled through various countries of Europe and studied the constitutional problems with heart and soul together.

He was greatly influenced by the constitutional monarchy in England and he out rightly rejected the theory of ‘Divine Right’ propounded by autocratic monarchs for their own ends. He wanted that a constitutional government should also be established in France. He wrote a book entitled.

The Spirit of the Laws after twenty years’ hard labour. He stressed in this book that power of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary should be separated completely.

He was of the opinion that the unification of these powers would centralise all power in one person or a party which in due course of time either would spoil the entire administration or would lead to the making of a dictator. Hazen has paid a glowing tribute to Montesquieu in the following words:

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“Propounded by a studious Judge, in language that was both grave and elegant, Montesquieu’s masterpiece (The Spirit of the La was a storehouse of wisdom destined to the provocation of m thought, discussion and action both in France and elsewhere.”

Montesquieu propounded the theory of Separation of Powers the Checks and Balances. He was the supporter of constitution monarchy and confirmed his views in his book. Thus he wanted safeguard the rights and freedoms of the people.

He breathed his last 1755 but his thoughts continued to influence the people of France, constitution of 1791 was based on Montesquieu theory.