POLITICAL LIABILITY OF THE PRESIDENT IN A DEMOCRACY
POLITICAL LIABILITY OF THE PRESIDENT IN A DEMOCRACY

Summary/Abstract: The notion of political liability is frequently used in the constitutional law, especially taking into consideration the Government’s liability in front of the Parliament. However, the notion cannot be reduced only to this meaning, because the President also answers politically for his acts: either in front of the electoral body or in front of the legislative assembly, depending on the political regime in a state. In fact, even the English term of “impeachment”, originally related to the prosecution of ministers, evokes nowadays the responsibility of the head of state in a republican system. The immunity of the President is neither total nor absolute. His activity must be circumscribed to the framework established by the constituent power, the violation of constitutional provisions regarding his competences or the emergence of conflicting states between the public authorities determining the arbitration of the electoral body or the intervention of the mechanisms of checks and balances, characterizing the principle of the separation and balance of powers in the state. By political liability, it must be understood the legal mechanism that involves the President’s obligation to respond to the holders of national sovereignty, the people or its representatives, for his acts following a procedure defined by the Constitution. Finally, the assumption of the President’s liability gives them an opportunity to assess whether his conduct in the performance of his duties is compatible with the continuation of his mandate. In the event of a negative answer, his sanction is the dismissal.

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