Supreme Court orders Bar Association to change its name
22 Apr 2014, 5:12 PM
Daniel Bosley
The Maldives Bar Association (MBA) has been given 14 days to change its name, after the Supreme Court deemed the title inappropriate for a private organisation.
“The word ‘bar’ is used even in other countries of the world to refer to an official body formed under a law within specific guidelines, with the participation of the complete legal community and judicial sector with the mandate to uphold confidence and trust in the judiciary,” read a letter sent by the court to the Home Ministry on April 9.
The letter goes on to argue that the MBA is a private group which does not represent all lawyers, meaning that it does not have the legal mandate to represent or to speak on the behalf of the entire profession.
“Therefore, we feel that at a time when there is a law being compiled to regulate lawyers and to form a National Bar Association, the existence of an entity by the name of Maldives Bar Association, which does not have the mandate to regulate or represent lawyers within the Maldives justice system may lead to avoidable confusions,” it continued.
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