The Parliament's Budget Review Committee has allocated MVR 15 million to relocate the Criminal Court to Hulhumalé.
The current Criminal Court building is in significant dilapidated condition, requiring major renovation.
At the parliament's Budget Review Committee meeting on Thursday evening, December 7, Dhaandhoo MP Yauqoob Abdulla, while submitting particulars on the allocation to the Department of Judicial Administration (DJA), announced the committee's decision to allocate MVR 15 million to relocate the court.
The committee at its Thursday evening meeting, approved the 2024 State Budget of MVR 49.8 billion with the inclusion of an additional MVR 306 million.
Earlier, the decision was made to relocate Criminal Court to the former Covid-19 facility in Hulhumalé since its current building run on the State Trading Organization's (STO) plot, has become worn down and unsafe.
Since the court is currently operating in one of the blocks of the building, it has become difficult to proceed with cases that require large summoning.
Additionally, majority of Criminal Court's trials proceed online which has presented challenges for major cases.
Previously, the Criminal Court operated from the Justice Building and was later relocated to the STO's former building in 2016.
Besides the Criminal Court, all major courts in Malé City experience a scarcity of space.