A bill has been submitted to Parliament proposing that the number of Supreme Court Judges be decreased from seven to five.
A bill has been submitted to Parliament proposing that the number of Supreme Court Judges be decreased from seven to five.
The bill was proposed as a private submission by ruling People's National Congress (PNC) MP for Holhudhoo AbduSattar Mohamed.
Sattar cited his belief that the 'aspirations' of the Maldivian people can be reached through changing the Supreme Court to its previous status as his reasoning for the submitting the bill.
The bill outlines how Supreme Court judges will be dismissed, as well as the timeline for this. The bill calls for expediting dismissal of judges as well.
In 2014, during the administration of former President Abdulla Yameen, the Supreme Court bench had been decreased from seven to five judges through dismissing then Chief Justie Ahmed Faiz Hussain and Judge Ahmed Muthasim Adnan.
Later, during the administration of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, the Parliament passed to once again increase the number of Supreme Court Judges to seven. After increasing the number of Judges, the entire bench of judges were changed at the time.
This bill has been proposed at a time when rumours have been circulating that the government is preparing to submit cases against two Judges of the Supreme Court. It has also come at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing a case regarding the constitutional amendments on MPs losing their seats.
The Supreme Court Judges' bench currently consists of Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan, Judge HusnuSuood, Judge Azmiralda Zahir, Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir, Judge Aisha Shujune Mohamed, Judge Dr Mohamed Ibrahim and Judge Ali Rasheed.
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