Montesquieu's governmental geometry

Two types of liberty

1.political liberty

The political liberty of the subject is a tranquillity of mind arising from the opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of another.

When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.

Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might behave with violence and oppression.

There would be an end of everything, were the same man or the same body, whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and of trying the causes of individuals.{XI,6}

一個公民的政治自由是一種心境的平安狀態。這種心境的平安是從人人都認為他本身是安全的這個看法產生的。要享有這種自由，就必須建立一種政府，在它的統治下一個公民不懼怕另一個公民。　

當立法權和行政權集中在同一個人或同一個機關之手，自由便不復存在了；因為人們將要害怕這個國王或議會制定暴虐的法律，並暴虐地執行這些法律。　如果司法權不同立法權和行政權分立，自由也就不存在了。如果司法權同立法權合而為一，則將對公民的生命和自由施行專斷的權力，因為法官就是立法者。如果司法權同行政權合而為一，法官便將握有壓迫者的力量。

　

如果同一個人或是由重要人物、貴族或平民組成的同一個機關行使這三種權力，即制定法律權、執行公共決議權和裁判私人犯罪或爭訟權，則一切便都完了。

2.civil liberty

Philosophic liberty consists in the free exercise of the will; or at least, if we must speak agreeably to all systems, in an opinion that we have the free exercise of our will. Political liberty consists in security, or, at least, in the opinion that we enjoy security.

This security is never more dangerously attacked than in public or private accusations. It is, therefore, on the goodness of criminal laws that the liberty of the subject principally depends.
Criminal laws did not receive their full perfection all at once. Even in places where liberty has been most sought after, it has not been always found.

公民的自由

哲學上的自由，是要能夠行使自己的意志，或者，至少如果應從所有的體系來說的話自己相信是在行使自己的意志。政治的自由是要有安全，或是至少自己相信有安全。

　

這種安全從來沒有比在公的或私的控告時受到的威脅更大的了。

因此公民的自由主要依靠良好的刑法。　在過去，刑法並不是一刹那之間就達到了完善的境地的。甚至在那些人們最追求過自由的地方，人們也並未立即就找到它。