President vows to reform judiciary with input from judges

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said that he will fulfill his pledge of reforming the courthouse after discussing and gaining input from the courthouse itself.

Speaking at a ceremony to inaugurate the new judicial year on Monday night, President Solih said that his government is committed to bringing judges to the path of justice and assured that he will do so lawfully and with input from the courts.

He said that the courts should work to regain the people’s trust and that an independent courthouse is an important foundation of democracy, which aims to uphold the rights of citizens.

Highlighting that judges have no term limit, he said that citizens expect them to remain independent and uphold justice.

He also said that the current government is made by the people, for the people, and so all three powers of the state has to be accountable to the people. Therefore, he said that court hearings should be open to the public, since the court decisions impact the whole community.

The other policy for being held accountable is for the courts to support public criticism, said the president, adding that the courthouse has an intimate relationship with the people in a democracy, since they go to the courts when their rights are undermined.

The President said that the people want to be assured that judges are free from influence and in this regard, they have, in the last 10 years, learned that it can only be done by reforming the judiciary and providing an environment where judges are safe to conduct their duties without influence.

He said that his government has been working to regain the rights taken from people, by giving them their jobs back and re-investigating death cases. The government is also looking into the corruption involved in distributing the social housing units as well as working to retrieve stolen state funds and assets.

He advised every judge to uphold the rights of citizens for the new judicial year.