'Haalath Al-Darurah' unsuitable to situation in Maldives: ex-AG Husnu Suood

The concept of disregarding principles of law under Islamic jurisprudence in situations of necessity, Haalath Al-Darurah – or ‘situational necessity’ – is unsuitable for the situation in the Maldives, says former Attorney General Husnu Suood.

Suood said, while speaking at a program on RaajjeTV, that the Constitution of the Republic of Maldives does not account for the concept to be applied in the Maldives, and that a situation where the invoking Haalath Al-Darurah, as described in Islamic jurisprudence, has not yet occured.

Suood further said that the principle can only be invoked in matters pertaining to criminal law, and cannot be extended to constitutional law. Suood also said that no state power – the President’s Office, the Supreme Court, no the parliament – can invoke powers not vested in them by the constitution.

Suood said that Maldives has yet to see a situation so dire that a situational necessary to disregard laws occurs.

The legal principle has been used by senior officials of the government to support the declaration of a state of emergency in the Maldives without meeting the legally mandated requirements to do so. Suood said that the Supreme Court ruling on February 1st, which caused the declaration, is not reason enough.