DJA revokes suspension of lawyer Haseen
Haseen is one of the 54 lawyers suspended in September 2017. for calling for the reform of the judiciary
Abdulla Haseen
Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) has revoked the suspension of lawyer Abdulla Haseen.
In an announcement made on Tuesday, the DJA said that Haseen’s suspension has been lifted following the conclusion of the investigation into his case, and that he will be allowed to resume practicing law from Tuesday onwards.
In a move condemned by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the DJA suspended 54 lawyers in September 2017, after a call to reform the country's judiciary.
Suspensions of 43 of the lawyers has since been lifted, with the number of lawyers under suspension dropping to 13.
Following the mass suspension of lawyers, 35 lawyers including former Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz, stood up in their defence.
According to the Department of Judicial Administration, the said lawyers 'were in violation of the Judicature Act, lawyers’ pledge and Court regulation by submitting the unlawful document’.
The International Commission of Jurists called on authorities to revoke the suspensions unconditionally, while the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Diego García-Sayán called on the Maldives ‘to create an independent bar association to oversee lawyers’ affairs’. He said that lawyers ‘must also be given room to express their opinions, freedom to assemble and raise their voices on general debate on upholding rule of law and human rights’.
The Delegation of the European Union to the Maldives said that this ‘is not the right way to address issue of obstructing independence of the justice system’.
