Under the Juvenile Justice Act, children under 15 do not bear criminal responsibility, and the Juvenile Court ruled in October that a warrant could not be issued to search the child's phone.
The state has decided not to appeal the High Court's ruling regarding the search of phones and other devices belonging to children under the age of 15.
The ruling was given in a case in which the police sought a warrant to seize and search the phone of a 14-year-old minor in connection with allegations raised against him.
Under the Juvenile Justice Act, children under 15 do not bear criminal responsibility, and the Juvenile Court ruled in October that a warrant could not be issued to search the child's phone.
However, the prosecution appealed the decision and the High Court last week upheld the juvenile court's verdict. High Court ruled that courts cannot issue orders for charges against children who do not bear criminal responsibility.
The Prosecutor General's Office said that High Court's decision will not be appealed in Supreme Court. However, the reason for this decision have not been disclosed.
In the Maldives, the age of criminal responsibility was previously set at 12 years, but this was raised to 15 years following a law passed in 2019.
While the current administration has previously announced plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility back to 12, no such bill has been submitted in Parliament so far.
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