Two new appointments have been made to the vacancies at the Criminal Court, including the court’s first-ever female judge.

In a statement, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) revealed that appointed to the Criminal Court bench are Dheebanaz Fahmy and Mohamed Misbah.

The appointment comes under the applications opened for the two vacancies earlier and the applicants were interviews by the advisory committee which in a report submitted to JSC, highly recommended the appointment of Dheebanaz, native to Malé City and Misbah, native to Hulhudhoo island in Seenu atoll.

The application opportunity was opened following the resignation of Judge Hassan Najeeb in early July, followed by the resignation of Ahmed Hailam, who resigned from his post at the Criminal Court during December 2019, at a time the parliament's judiciary committee approved the Judicial Service Commission (JSC)’s decision to remove him, after a disciplinary investigation

Dheebanaz and Misbah took oath in a ceremony held at the commission, administered by Supreme Court Judge Husnu Al Suood.

The first-ever female judge to have been appointed to the Criminal Court has a Bachelor of Law (Honors) from Islamic University Malaysia, and a Master of Law from University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

She also has 17 years of experience in criminal litigation, she filled positions such as Deputy Prosecutor General.

Further, Misbah has a Bachelor of Sharia and Law from Al-Azhar University in Egypt with six years of experience as a public prosecutor and in private practice, as well as having taught law.

With the new appointments, the Criminal Court bench currently has 11 judges.