The Judiciary Committee of the Maldives Parliament has passed amendments to the Evidence Act regarding the source disclosure provision. The amendments grant the power to compel the disclosure of the source to the High Court.
The Evidence Act, which was ratified by President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih in July last year and came into force six months later, outlines the circumstances under which journalists can disclose the source of information.
According to Section 136 of the Act, the court can compel disclosure of the source in cases related to terrorism and national security. However, it was not clear which court could compel the disclosure of the source when the law came into force on January 18.
Therefore, as requested by the Maldives Journalists Association, the Judiciary Committee passed the amendments at its session on Friday.
Under the previous law, the respondent in a case could also ask to disclose the source in court.
However, the committee said the High Court should refer to the standards set by Prosecutor General's Office to decide whether terrorism and national security-related cases are proved on civil grounds, before journalists have to reveal their sources.
The amendments made five changes to the Evidence Act.
Until now, the only evidence act in force was the Evidence Act of 1976, which has only seven provisions. The next law on evidence implemented was the Women's Testimony Act of 1972.
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