The parliamentary Judicial Committee on Monday approved the presidential nominations of former High Court Judge Dr Azmiralda Zahir and former Civil Court Judge Aisha Shujoon Mohamed to the Supreme Court.
Three out of four nominations were submitted to the committee on late Monday. The two female judges were subsequently approved.
The nominations were made under the powers vested in the President by Article 148 of the Constitution, which authorises President Solih to appoint judges to the Supreme Court after consulting with JSC and securing a majority vote in parliament.
Azmiralda is the only female Judge to ever sit on the High Court bench and one of the only two PhD holders that served as a judge in the country.
Shujoon, who is a member of the recently formulated Bar Council, was one of the first female judges appointed.
Aisha and Azmiralda both resigned from their positions as judges in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
This marks the first instance women were approved for the top court's bench.
The nominations seek to fill two vacant positions which opened up on the bench through the ratification of an amendment to the Judicature Act on July 23, 2019. This amendment increased the number of judges presiding on the apex court bench from five to seven.
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