Maldives dismissed its Chief Justice and a supreme court judge

On Monday, Maldives lawmakers voted to dismiss the Chief Justice of the Maldives and a Supreme Court Judge, on Monday. While the opposition has called this an attack on the independence of the Judiciary, the government has called the move a part of its larger overhaul of the Judiciary.

Decision was taken by the parliament-appointed judicial watchdog

Lawmakers have stated that they were merely acting on the recommendation that was provided to them by the parliament-appointed judicial watchdog. The watchdog had said this month that some of the top court’s judges had violated the constitution and usurped the powers of parliament. There has been no immediate comment from Chief Justice Ahmed Abdulla Didi, the judge, Adam Mohamed Abdulla, or their offices.

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International condemnation for the Maldives

Amnesty International had commented on the lack of judicial independence in the Indian Ocean Nation back in 2018. It did not have a comment about Monday's decision to dismiss the Cheif Justice. The President of Maldives, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih who came to power in 2018 has vowed to improve law enforcement and end what he called corruption in the country’s institutions.

Two months after coming to office, the Judicial Service Commission watchdog launched an investigation into senior judges.
According to the commission's report, it has found 17 instances where the country's top judges had violated the constitution or usurped the powers of parliament of independent state institutions which is against the constitution.

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Those violations it is said is included in the suspension of a dozen lawmakers. The remaining supreme court and its judges have not yet commented during the course of this investigation. The opposition lawmaker Adam Shareef said he accepted there were problems with the judicial system but the dismissal of the Cheif Justice went against the principle of the constitution. He accused the current ruling party of using its majority to meddle in the Judiciary.

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(With inputs from agencies)