Parliament accepts bill to increase SC justices to 7 for review

The Parliament has accepted the legislative amendment designed to increase the number of Supreme Court justices from five to seven.

The legislature was submitted on behalf of the Maldivian administration by Central Henveyru MP Ali Azim.

It was accepted into the Parliament for evaluation with the vote of 72 parliamentarians this Tuesday afternoon.

The Courts Act – enacted in 2010 – originally established the number of Supreme Court justices as seven – made up of the Chief Justice and six additional justices who must be appointed to the court.

An amendment to the Courts Act in late 2014 cut down the number of Supreme Court justices to five.

Ali Azim’s legislature is designed to annul the 2014 amendment – which the parliamentarian says was passed to serve a political motive.

The legislature – which is designed to come into effect the moment it is enacted into a law - has now been forwarded to the Judicial Committee of the Parliament for evaluation.