Supreme Court endorses new curriculum for judges

The Supreme Court has adopted a curriculum to educate Maldivian judges on constitutional law and to develop the judiciary’s professional skills.

The Continuous Education Curriculum for the Judiciary, endorsed on Thursday, was developed with the help of experts from the Malaysia based International Center for Law and Legal Studies, staff of the Supreme Court and UNDP Maldives.

The curriculum consists of six courses, the UNDP has said. Judges will be trained on legal research, case management, court administration and judicial ethics.

Other areas of study include constitutional law, penal law, criminal procedures and civil procedures.

The 26-day trainings will be held at the newly established Judicial Training Center in Villimalé.

It is not clear when trainings will begin.

The Maldives judiciary has come under fire for politicization and lack of academic qualifications among judges. The judicial watchdog in 2010 re-appointed nearly all incumbent judges without a mandatory re-evaluation.

Critics have said that the judiciary remains a key challenge to democratic consolidation in the Maldives.