Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Tuesday counselled President Abdulla Yameen regarding the appointment of a new chief justice and two judges to fill the vacancies in the Supreme Court.
The former chief justice, Abdulla Saeed, and former apex court judge, Ali Hameed, were stripped of their posts last week, when they were found guilty of undue influence on the judiciary after the appeal process was exhausted.
According to the Constitution, justices to the Supreme Court must be passed by the parliament, from amongst candidates nominated by the president based on JSC's recommendations.
JSC on Tuesday recommended to appoint the Supreme Court's Judge Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi as the new chief justice, and the High Court's current Chief Judge Abdulla Didi and Judge Abdul Ghani Mohamed as two new judges to the apex court.
Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi was one of the justices appointed to the judges bench when the permanent Supreme Court was first established in 2010. He is also the only judge currently in Maldives with a PhD in the field.
The High Court's Chief Judge Abdulla Didi had served at the Criminal Court before he was appointed to the appellate court in 2015. Abdul Ghani Mohamed has been serving as a High Court judge since 2004.
The new chief justice would be the third one to be appointed since the permanent Supreme Court's establishment in 2010. The first chief justice, Ahmed Faiz Hussain, was removed from post in 2014 after the number of justices on the top court's bench was decreased following an amendment to the Judicature Act. The recently convicted Abdulla Saeed had been serving as chief justice since then.
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