The parliament on Tuesday, approved the appointment of former High Court Judge Dr Azmiralda Zahir and former Civil Court Judge Aisha Shujoon Mohamed to the Supreme Court.
A majority of the 62 participating parliamentarians voted in favor of the female appointments. Only one negative vote was recorded along with an abstention.
This marks the first instance for women to be approved for the top court's bench.
During the parliamentary debate concerning the matter, Maradhoo MP Ibrahim Shareef emphasized ongoing widespread discourse concerning human rights and stated that appointing two female judges to the top court bench would be a step forward for women’s rights.
Referring to the fact that a majority-Muslim country such as Malaysia had appointed female chief justices, Shareef expressed his support for Shujoon and Azmiralda’s appointment.
Vilimale’ MP Ahmed Usham attributed his support for the appointments to the lack of clear religious evidence prohibiting female judges despite disagreement of opinion among Islamic scholars.
Usham asserted that Shujoon and Azmiralda were both educated and competent women who could fulfil their roles on the Supreme Court bench.
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. Shujoon and Azmiralda both resigned from their positions as judges in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih nominated the two women for the positions after an amendment to the Judicature Act on July 23, 2019 increased the number of judges presiding on the apex court bench from five to seven.
Article 148 of the Constitution authorises President Solih to appoint judges to the Supreme Court after consulting the Judicial Service Company and securing a majority vote in parliament. Following the nominations, certain religious scholars had expressed concern over the possibility of the two women being appointed to the bench.
Maldives' highest authority on issuing 'fatwa', nonbinding legal opinions on points of Islamic law, stated that the appointer of a female judge would be sinful along with the woman appointed.
However, several credible Islamic scholars have disputed the matter.
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