President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has ratified the amendment to increase the number of Supreme Court justices, from five to seven.
While the People’s Majlis passed the amendment on July 17, this is the third amendment to the Judicature Act of the Maldives.
The amendment, proposed by Central-Henveiru constituency MP Ali Azim, sought to change the number of justices back to seven.
While the act initially required this, a change brought in 2014 -during former President Abdulla Yameen’s administration- reduced the number to five.
Article 5 (a) of the Judicature Act states that “the Supreme Court of Maldives shall consist of a total of seven judges, including chief justice and six additional judges appointed to the court.”
Upon ratification, the amendment has been published in the government gazette.