JSC appoint Family Court Chief Judge Huzaifa to High Court

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Wednesday appointed the Chief Judge of the Family Court Uz. Huzaifa Mohamed as a High Court Judge.

The appointment was made during a meeting held by JSC.

After the former High Court Judge Ali Sameer resigned, JSC had opened an application for the post.

In addition to Uz. Huzaifa, State Prosecutor at the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) Shukurulla Shakeel applied for the position. 

JSC revealed that the committee responsible for the appointment of judges advised the commission to appoint Uz. Huzaifa after interviewing both.

She will be officially presented with her letter of appointment on Sunday, June 27.

Huzaifa was appointed as the Chief Judge of the Family Court on March 30, 2022. This marked the first instance a female judge was appointed as a chief judge of a superior court in Maldives.

After attainted her Masters of Corporative Law from the International Islamic University of Malaysia, she began her legal career as a judge on July 11, 2007.

The High Court is in need of two more judges - one to replace Judge Abdul Rauf Ibrahim who resigned last week, and the other to replace Judge Abdulla Hameed – who the Parliament voted to dismiss.

The dismissal of Judges Abdulla Hameed and Abdul Rauf Ibrahim was in connection to their violation of Article 152 of the Constitution by directly accepting flats granted as an allowance from the government, without any involvement of the Parliament. The commission noted that this was a violation of the constitution, and against the code of conduct for judges.