Hameed and Saleem’s appointment to Supreme Court bench, approved
Majlis approved the appointment of Saleem and Hameed as new judges of the Supreme Court of the Maldives on Wednesday
Hameed and Saleem as Supreme Court judges
The People's Majlis has greenlighted the appointment of Mohamed Saleem and Abdulla Hameed as judges of the Supreme Court of the Maldives, as proposed by President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.
The Supreme Court judge positions became vacant after the People's Majlis voted to remove the previous judges, Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir.
When applications were opened for the Supreme Court positions, 12 individuals applied. Saleem and Hameed scored the highest in the interviews conducted by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). Subsequently, JSC recommended the two individuals to President Muizzu for appointment to the Supreme Court.
On June 4, the Judiciary Committee unanimously approved to give consent for both individuals.
In the People's Majlis sitting held on Wednesday, the appointment of Saleem and Hameed as Supreme Court judges was approved. 60 lawmakers voted in favor of appointing Hameed as a judge, with 61 lawmakers having voted in favor of appointing Saleem.
Saleem, who has been appointed to the Supreme Court, is currently serving as a judge at the High Court of the Maldives. There was significant debate in JSC regarding Saleem's qualifications for the Supreme Court judgeship, but JSC ultimately decided that having a lawyer's license for seven years would suffice to meet the requirements.
Hameed previously served as the Chief Judge of the High Court. JSC investigated a case related to Hameed, and in 2022, the People's Majlis voted to remove him from his judgeship. This was related to the case of accepting flats given to judges during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom's administration.
With the appointment of these two individuals to the Supreme Court, the court's bench will be complete.
In addition to these two new appointees, the current Supreme Court consists of Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan, Justice Aisha Shujoon Mohamed, Justice Ali Rasheed Hussain, Justice Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, and Justice Husain Shaheed. Among these, Shaheed was appointed to the Supreme Court by the current administration.
His appointment was made following the resignation of Justice Husnu Al Suood from the Supreme Court bench.
Suood resigned from his position after he was suddenly suspended by JSC just as hearings in a constitutional case was about to begin at the Supreme Court. Suood resigned in protest of what he claimed was undue influence on the judiciary by President Muizzu and the government.
