Relevant institutions held a discussion yesterday regarding the amendment of Maldives' civil justice system.

Chief Justice Abdul Ghanee Mohamed, Attorney General Ahmed Usham, Supreme Court justices, Civil Court justices and some magistrates took part in the meeting held at the Attorney General's (AG) Office. The Bar Council and lawyers also attended the meeting.

According to the AG's Office, the main purpose of the meeting was to review the Civil Procedure Code and to identify the parts of the civil justice system that should be prioritized in the amendment of it.

The office said that important amendments to the Civil Procedure Code and important suggestions from various parties regarding the strengthening of the courts' administrative operation were shared during the meeting.

The AG's Office is currently working on preparing the bill to amend the Civil Procedure Code. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) sent amendments they saw fit to be brought about to the Civil Procedure Code to the AG's Office last year.

The new and modern Civil Procedure Code that was brought into force in 2022 has changed into something that is not suitable for Maldives' environment, with it becoming a great burden for the Civil Court, the court that needs to work the most to enforce it.

The biggest change brought about by the new code was the voiding of the Civil Court's dispute resolution stage, which saw too much time be spent on court case rulings.

As the Civil Procedure Code gave inheritance, will and division cases to the Civil Court from the Family Court, the amount of work the Civil Court had to do increased.