Judicial independence, rule of law “severely jeopardised” in the Maldives, says Commonwealth organisations
17 Dec 2014, 2:11 PM
Zaheena Rasheed
The sudden removal of former Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz and Justice Muthasim Adnan has “severely jeopardised” the independence of the Maldives judiciary and the rule of law, three Commonwealth bodies have said.
The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA), the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) and the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association (CMJA) in a statement on Tuesday said the judges’ removal was unconstitutional and constituted a clear breach of the Commonwealth Principles to which the government of Maldives has subscribed.
Faiz and Muthasim were removed by a two-third majority of MPs present and voting at an extraordinary session on Sunday following amendments to the Judicature Act that reduced the seven-member Supreme Court bench to five judges.
Expressing concern, the CLA, CLEA and CMJA said the removal contravened Article 154 of the Maldives Constitution that says a judge can only be removed if the watchdog Judicial Services Commission (JSC) find the judge guilty of gross misconduct or incompetence.
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