JSC: 393 complaints against judges in 2022

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Tuesday said that a total of 393 complaints were submitted against judges in 2022 and noted that much progress was attained in investigating these cases.

The commission has publicized some information regarding the cases submitted last year.

While 393 complaints were filed, this is 11 cases less than the previous year’s 288 complaints.

Looking at the status of investigating these cases, a total of 37 cases are in the review stages, and 19 cases against 15 judges have been sent for investigation.

A total of 46 cases were closed in 2022, of which, 24 were found guilty.

Additionally, JSC said that action taken against judges includes, forwarding to parliament the dismissal of four.

Nine judges have been given ethics training and advice, and three judges were suspended in 2022.

Speaking with Sun about the work done in 2022, Secretary General of JSC Imthiyaz Shimah noted that the most noteworthy achievement in the past year was clearing much of the pending cases backlogged at the commission.

He went on to add that by the beginning of 2023, only a few backlogged cases were left ongoing.

In addition to this, Shimah noted that they were able to decrease the number of hires in 2022, as they did not recruit a new one, every time a judge leaves.  

“When a judge retires from an island, we did not reappoint during the past three years. The number of female judges has increased a lot. When the commission began, there were only seven judges. Now, there are over 30.”

Shimah further said that the issues faced in getting information regarding ongoing cases and delays in investigating have significantly improved within the last year.