Parliament to recommend JSC to impeach Supreme Court justices

Judiciary Committee of Parliament has established Supreme Court justices to have intervened in cases in violation of the Maldivian Constitution, and has passed a motion to advise the Judicial Services Commission that the constitutional violations were grounds for impeachment.

JSC had filed a report with the Parliament citing constitutional violations by Supreme Court justices. Judiciary Committee, which had evaluated the report, had added more cases where the justices were deemed to have intervened in violation of the Constitution.

The seven additional cases include the decision to annul the results of the presidential elections in 2013.

• Sending a letter in the name of Acting Chief Justice.
• The decision to intervene to stop changes to President’s appointees within the Parliament following the government overthrow in 2008.
• The decision to annul results of the first round of elections in the presidential elections of 2013.
• The decision to press criminal charges for voicing criticism against the Supreme Court.
• The decision to uphold the death penalty issued to Hussain Humam Ahmed – convicted of the murder of Dr. Afrasheem Ali - in violation of the wishes of Dr. Afrasheem’s next of kin.
• Arguing interim Supreme Court justices as permanent appointees.

These seven cases were added to the list of 17 additional cases noted by JSC in its report.

Judiciary Committee, following its evaluation of JSC’s report, established that the Supreme Court justices had acted in violation of the Maldivian Constitution, resulting in injustice to the Maldivian people.

“This committee takes note that many Maldivian citizens are voicing concern over the injustice suffered by citizens due to continued unconstitutional actions by Supreme Court,” says Judiciary Committee in its report on its findings.

The committee found that there were no grounds to believe that the justices had practiced impartiality in the cases, and that the cases posed questions over their capability to serve as justices.

“With this being the case, and with this being grounds for impeachment, we instruct the Judicial Service Commission to initiate an inquiry into these justices based on these factors, and to take action against them,” reads the committee’s recommendation.

The motion was passed with the unanimous consensus of the six committee members present during the meeting.

The committee has requested a final decision regarding its findings to be made by the parliamentary floor. JSC is expected to file for inquiries into the justices if the committee’s findings are approved by the general parliamentary assembly.

The decision comes amid separate inquiries into Supreme Court justices; Chief Justice Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi, Justice Abdulla Areef, Justice Abdul Ghanee Mohamed, and Justice Adam Mohamed by JSC.