Penal Code Bill to be returned to parliament without amendment

Chairman of the Penal Code Committee Ahmed Hamza has said that the Penal Code Bill, which was earlier rejected by the parliament and returned to the Penal Code Committee, will be sent to the parliament again soon as no amendments have been proposed to the bill.

The bill was rejected by the parliament on 29 December 2013, with 34 votes in favour and 36 against.

MPs were invited on 1 January 2014 to propose amendments to the bill when it was returned to the committee.

Hamza said that the deadline for proposing amendments will be up on Monday.

“If no amendments are proposed, we will send the bill to the parliament for voting. MPs have not proposed any amendments because they don’t want to make any changes, I think. If so there’s no reason to not pass the bill,” he said.

The Penal Code Bill is based on a draft compiled by legal expert Professor Paul Robinson, who conducted a study of the criminal justice system in the Maldives during former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s presidency, when Dr Hassan Saeed was Attorney General.

The Penal Code Bill, containing 197 articles, states that it will be enforced one year from the date that it is ratified by the president.