Legal Profession Bill will be forwarded to the parliament floor before the end of the 18th parliamentary term, says the Chair of Committee on Independent Institutions.
MP Riyaz Rasheed said this at Tuesday's parliament session, following a reminder from the parliament speaker that the deadline for the bill is approaching.
While the deadline is March 20, Rasheed said that they will not be able to complete the committee report before the deadline.
However, he added that it will be completed and forwarded to the floor before the term concludes.
While the Committee on Independent Institutions had previously sent its report on the Legal Profession Bill to the parliament floor, Speaker Qasim Ibrahim had decided to return it to the committee.
Qasim had said that he had received “numerous concerns” over the report, and asked the committee to revise it.
At the first Committee meeting held since, MP Rasheed noted that those that had expressed concern over its report include judges, lawyers and religious scholars.
However, some members in the committee – representing ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP)- claim that the bill was removed following an objection from Latheefa Gasim- a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)- who would have been removed from the commission before the end of her five-year term, if the bill is passed.
However, the parliament speaker denies this, highlighting that “the constitution clearly says that the term of a JSC member is five years.”
North-Maafannu constituency MP Imthiyaz Fahmy, a member of the Committee on Independent Institutions- noted that the parliament had opened the Legal Profession Bill for public comment in December last year, but that Latheefa had failed to submit a complaint then.
Further noting that the reason she has filed a complaint now is because of “her own interest in the matter,” MP Fahmy said that he does not believe that the entire report should be revised over this.
While the current report calls for a fresh election of JSC members, MP Fahmy proposed to amend this provision so that the Bar Association will have the authority.
The Legal Profession Bill will allow the formation of a Bar Association, an independent and professional association of lawyers responsible for regulation of the legal profession.
