President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified the Legal Profession Act on Monday so that the lawyers that had obtained a special license to practice law do not have to take the bar exam.
On October 17, the parliament had passed two amendments to the Legal Profession Act, first implemented in 2020.
MP for Vilimale' constituency Ahmed Usham had proposed that lawyers that had obtained a special license or permit to practice law be exempted from having to take the bar exam.
The second amendment was proposed by parliament representative for Holhudhoo constituency, Yoonus Ali.
He had proposed to change the requirement in the Legal Profession Act mandating those seeking to practice law complete a one year training program. The bill sought to empower the Bar Council to formulate a training system that would be most suitable for Maldives. It also sought to study and learn how this is carried out in other countries as well.
The amendment also provides ways to generate revenue so that the Bar Council can operate from those funds. These include fees collected from lawyers for various purposes including those charged to issue license to practice law, as well renewal of the license.
The council will be able to generate revenue from the fees collected from the donations paid by lawyers, issuance and renewal of permission and re-creation of certificates.
Once the bills are passed and ratified by the President, lawyers currently working on special permits will get permanent licenses without having to take any further examination.
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