Gov’t proposes amendments to Judges Act

Amendments have been proposed to the Maldivian Judges Act.

The amendment was submitted by Saudullah Hilmy, MP for North Thinadhoo constituency, who belongs to the main ruling People’s National Congress (PNC).

The purpose of the bill, submitted on behalf of the government, is to ensure that judges are individuals who carry out their responsibilities in a manner that maintains the independence of the judiciary and the judicial position, as well as preserves the trust in the judicial system.

In addition to this, the bill aims to establish a code of conduct for judges in the law and to further detail the principles set in the law regarding the evaluation of judges' performance. It has also been stated that the bill intends to amend the Judges Act to maintain the independence of judges.

The bill proposes to set out in law the principles for transferring judges to courts other than those to which they were originally appointed, as well as the principles for temporarily assigning them to work in other courts. Revising the rules for judges to engage in business activities and submitting financial statements is also mentioned as an important purpose of the bill.

Further, the bill proposes to amend the section on activities that judges are prohibited from engaging in while in office. It also stipulates that if a judge does not conclude a case within one year of being assigned to it, the court must inform the Chief Judge and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) of this fact, along with the reasons, and provide the details to the Chief Judge every month. Previously, this period was set at six months.