In the backdrop of a clash between the executive and the legislature, the Maldives’ judiciary has now hit a crisis after the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) made 160 judges permanent, controversially, prompting the police to block entry to the commission, yesterday.
Police surrounded the Judicial Services Commission, blocking any member or its staff from entering the commission.
The controversy began when the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) Tuesday revealed that 160 sitting judges have been made permanent after amending the criteria, Haveeru reported.
A JSC press release said it had started appraising Maldives’ 197 judges – excluding Supreme Court judges – after amending article four of the judges’ criteria earlier set by the commission.
The revised article reads, “The commission decides on judges who have been convicted in a criminal offence, matters that include an action taken against by an independent commission and would be decided that he/she does not qualify to the code of conduct part of the criteria if he/she has committed a crime stated in article 149(b3) of the constitution.”
JSC Media official Hassan Zaheen said the 160 judges who were made permanent did not have any records of an offence.
However, the other 37 judges, including Criminal Court Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed, Civil Court judge Mohamed Naeem and another judge who was accused of trying to copy during an exam , have criminal records, he added.
Aishath Velezinee, President Mohamed Nasheed’s member in the commission, confirmed JSC was not making Supreme Court judges permanent, as it decided that it was not in its mandate, according to Haveeru.
Supporters of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) gathered outside Theemuge which houses the commission Wednesday and chanted that the commission’s decision was unlawful.
Ibrahim ‘Ibra’ Ismail, former Male MP, also chair of the committee that drafted the constitution argued on a VTV programme that making judges permanent without the necessary law was illegal. JSC cannot make judges permanent according to its judges criteria, he said.
Zaheen, however, said the commission believes that judges should be made permanent within the August 7 deadline set in the constitution.
“The commission, one way or the other, should make judges permanent before the constitutional deadline. Making laws is not our business. But we have asked the parliament through a letter to pass the law soon,” he said.
The bill on judges presented by Fonadhoo MP Abdur Raheem Abdulla on November 9, 2009 is still in committee stages.
Article 149(a) of the constitution states that a person appointed as a judge in accordance with law, must possess the educational qualifications, experience and recognised competence necessary to discharge the duties and responsibilities of a Judge, and must be of high moral character.
Article 297(a) stipulates that within two years of the commencement of the constitution, excepting matters specifically provided herein, elections or appointments to posts shall be finalised in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, and institutions specified in the constitution shall also be created or established.
Article 159(a) specifies that the Judicial Service Commission is entrusted with the responsibility and power to appoint, promote and transfer Judges other than the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court, and to make recommendations to the President on the appointment of the Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court.
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