Parliament has today accepted the bill on amendments to the Judges' act.

The bill was accepted with 69 out of the 70 MPs in attendance voting in favour. The bill has now been forwarded for review by the Judiciary Committee.

The bill, submitted on behalf of the government by ruling People's National Congress MP Saudhulla Hilmy (North Thinadhoo), proposes that judges who retire or are dismissed cannot advocate in a court they have previously served in for a set period of time.

The bill aims to establish a code of ethics for judges and mechanisms to ensure their conduct maintains public trust and judicial independence.

The bill further seeks to expand protocols on evaluating judges’ performance, handling their transfers between courts, overseeing their financial dealings, and reviewing financial statement procedures.

Judges are prohibited from holding other state roles, engaging in private sector work, or accepting contract-based employment.

The bill further states that while judges can participate in funds run by the State for regular employees, they cannot create or manage funds. The bill also states that judges cannot conduct securities businesses under the Financial Securities Act and regulations, conduct trading on the stock exchange or run law firms.

The bill states that judges must not run any form of business, nor should they purchase or rent State properties. Judges are also barred from any direct or indirect involvement in any transaction between the State and other parties. However, judges can hold shares in a public company as long as they are not a significant shareholder.

Although debate on the bill commenced on Wednesday, the debate was continued in today's session.

While government aligned MPs spoke in support of the bill, the opposition described it as being designed to exert influence on the judiciary.