Parliament passes bill to downsize Supreme Court bench as MDP lawmakers ejected from chamber

The ruling People’s National Congress (PNC) used its supermajority in the Parliament to push through controversial government legislature to downsize the Supreme Court bench from seven to five justices.

The amendment to the Judicature Act was submitted on Sunday night by Holhudhoo MP Abdul Sattar Mohamed – a member of PNC. The bill was presented, debated on and accepted into the Parliament on Tuesday, and the Judiciary Committee passed it without any changes in a meeting held shortly after the vote.

The floor vote was scheduled for 09:45 am, but got delayed as parliamentarians from the main opposition Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) protested against the bill.

Speaker Abdul Raheem Abdulla – th chairman of PNC – repeatedly warned the opposition parliamentarians to return to their seats.

A short while later, Abdul Raheem named South Galolhu MP Meekail Ahmed Naseem, Vaikaradhoo MP Hassan Ziyad (Fittey) and Kendhoo MP Mauroof Zakir and ejected them from the chamber.

The Parliament called for a vote again at around 10:00 am. Abdul Raheem said that there was a technical issue with the system, and the voting was carried out manually, as parliamentarians were asked one-by-one if they were in favor of the bill or against.

The bill passed with a majority vote of 68-9.

A sole parliamentarian from PNC, Ahmed Azaan Marzooq, was seen walking out of the chamber as the voting began. The Central Hithadhoo representative had also chosen to skip Tuesday’s vote when the bill was accepted into the Parliament.

Meanwhile, another PNC parliamentarian, Anara Naeem, who had previously shown opposition to the bill followed the party line and voted in favor of it. But the previous say, the Huraa representative who serves as deputy chair of the Judiciary Committee chose to abstain when the committee passed the bill.

The amendment to the Judicature Act is designed to downsize the Supreme Court’s bench from seven to five justices – meaning that two incumbent justices will need to be removed.

The proposed bill states that the removal of Supreme Court justices will require the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to submit a motion for dismissal to the Parliament if they deem a justice to be incompetent, and will require a two-thirds vote of parliamentarians present.

The JSC will be required to submit the names of the justices they want removed to the Parliament within five days the amendment takes effect, and the Parliament must make a decision within seven days once it is submitted.

The Supreme Court bench is currently composed of:

• Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan
• Justice Dr. Azmiralda Zahir
• Justice Aisha Shujoon Mohamed
• Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir
• Justice Husnu Al-Suood
• Justice Ali Rasheed Hussain
• Justice Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim

The move to submit a bill to reduce the Supreme Court bench followed weekslong allegations by the MDP that the government is seeking to dismiss some of the members of the top court’s bench to influence a case challenging a contentious amendment to add anti-defection provisions to the Constitution.

The constitutional amendment in question was submitted, passed and ratified in quick succession on November 20. The controversial amendment added three more circumstances where parliamentarians will lose their seat, including if they are expelled from their political party.

Former Kendhoo MP Ali Hussain, an attorney-at-law, filed a constitutional case with the top court on November 24, arguing that the amendment violates key provisions of the Constitution, as well as the basic structure doctrine.

Hearings in the case began on February 17 – nearly three months after the case was filed. The state filed a motion to have the case tossed out, arguing that the Supreme Court does not have the jurisdiction to hear it. But the bench decided on February 18 to proceed with the case, and gave the state 10 days to build their case.

Opposition parties, including the MDP and the Democrats have questioned the timing of the bill, and accused the government of attempting attemting to influence the country's highest judicial authority and subvert judicial independence.

The rushed passage of the bill comes one hour ahead of a hearing scheduled at the Supreme Court regarding a request for an injunction to suspend the enforcement of the anti-defection clauses.

The number of justices in the Supreme Court bench have been changed twice in the last decade. In 2014, during former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom’s administration, the ruling party passed legislature reducing the bench from seven to five justices.

This was reversed in 2019 during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s administration.