The last two years have seen a tectonic shift in the power balance between the three arms of the state, as the legislature and the executive have ceded more and more space to the judiciary due to the external force of public opinion, which in turn is fuelled by internal dishonesty and sheer incompetence of the ruling elite. This shift in power has been approaching slowly over a long time, as public confidence in the executive and legislature has declined with each new government, but the explosion in corruption scandals and the brazen attitude of our elected leaders in the last two years has forced the courts to virtually wrest control of the important investigations (2G and Coalgate) and reforms (economic and electoral) from the hands of the government, to avoid a complete breakdown of the public faith in the illusory ‘due process of law’.