ICJ says Majlis has “decapitated the country’s judiciary”
18 Dec 2014, 5:18 PM
Daniel Bosley
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has called this week’s removal of two Supreme Court judges an assault on the independence of the judiciary.
“The Maldivian parliament and executive have effectively decapitated the country’s judiciary and trampled on the fundamental principles of the rule of law and separation of powers in a democratic State,” said Sam Zarifi, ICJ’s Director for Asia and the Pacific.
Zarifi went on to call for the reinstatement of Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and Justice Muthasim Adnan, labelling their removal by the People’s Majlis “astonishingly arbitrary”.
The two judges were removed following amendments to the Judicature Act passed last week, requiring a reduction of judges on the Supreme Court bench from seven to five.
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