Foreign judges can help develop Maldivian judiciary; they must be Muslim, says MP Mariya Didi

The appointment of foreign persons to adjudicator positions in the Maldivian judiciary can greatly help bolster independence, but they must be Muslim in order to maintain moral standards expected by society, says opposition aligned MP Mariya Ahmed Didi.

Highlighting this, the Mahchangoalhi-north constituency lawmaker said while speaking to Raajje Television on Wednesday night that while the Judges Act required adjudicators in the Maldives to be followers of Islam, there are no clauses in the act that requires them to be Maldivian.

Mariya said that while judges must uphold Islamic principles and moral standards expected of them, the Maldivian judiciary allows for foreign judges to hold offices.

The veteran parliamentarian had spoken in support of this, claiming that it would further improve the condition of the Maldivian judiciary and build public trust in the institution.

The Maldivian Democratic Party, the largest in the coalition of incumbent President Abdulla Yameen’s opponents, has said that they are to bring in foreign judges to develop Maldives’ judiciary, that has increasingly been scrutinized in recent years for allegedly being submissive to political influence.