Supreme Court begins hearings with new bench

The Supreme Court has restarted holding hearings in the new year, with a completely different set of judges on the Supreme Court bench and large-scale changes to the Judicature Act of Maldives (Act No: 22/2010) and the regulations of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) as part of the incumbent administration's efforts for judicial reform.

As per article 7 of the Judicature Act, the Supreme Court has been in recess since the last official working day of November last year until the first official working day of January this year. Nevertheless, while hearings were not conducted during the recess period, the court still continued accepting complaints and it's administrative functions.

Following the end of the Supreme Court's recess period, hearings for three cases have been scheduled and have already begun. They include one drug peddling case and two employment-related cases.

Judicial reform was one of President Solih's electoral pledges as well as a pledge by the main-ruling coalition, Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP). Hence, authorities previously overridden by the Supreme Court was returned to the JSC after major changes were made to the organisation's regulations.

Additionally, amendments were made to the Judicature Act that changed the total number of judges on the Supreme Court bench from five back to seven, as it was when the court was first established. The total number of members on the Supreme Court bench was decreased to five during former President Yameen's regime after he dismissed the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at the time, Ahmed Faiz Hussain and Supreme Court Judge, Ahmed Muthasim Adnan. The Chief Justice position was then given to Supreme Court Judge, Abdulla Saeed.

While the law mandates a total of seven members on the Supreme Court bench, including the Chief Justice, there are currently only five members. The bench presently consists of the recently appointed Chief Justice, Ahmed Muthasim Adnan and Judge Husnu Al Suood as well as former High Court Judge Dr Azmiralda Zahir and former Civil Court Judge Aisha Shujune in addition to former Drug Court Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir.

Judge Abdulla Didi was the first member of the previous Supreme Court bench to be dismissed. He left the country while there was an ongoing investigation against him by the JSC for disciplinary issues. Regardless, the JSC continued probing into the rest of the Supreme Court bench and a total of 51 complaints against Dr Ahmed Abdulla Didi, Adam Mohamed Abdulla, Abdulla Areef and Abdul Ghanee Mohamed were reviewed. While former justice Areef resigned from the bench due to health complications last year, the rest were dismissed following parliament approval.

As such, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has forwarded his nominations for the remaining vacancies on the Supreme court bench to the JSC for further review. His nominations consist of former Supreme Court Chief Justice, Ahmed Faiz Hussain and High Court Judge, Abdul Rauf Ibrahim. The JSC has declared that their recommendation will be presented to the president after concluding investigations into complaints that have been submitted against both nominees.