Malé, Maldives — The Judicial Service Commision (JSC) appoints 2 new judges to the Criminal Court, including the first female judge, Dheebanaz Fahmy.
Applications for two vacancies at the Criminal Court was opened by JSC in August after the resignation of Judge Hassan Najeeb on July 6, and the resignation of former Chief Judge Ahmed Hailam on December 3.
Dheebanaz Fahmy and Mohamed Mizbah were the two people who were listed “highly recommended” in the report that was submitted to the commission for the vet process done by the advisory committee on appointment of judges for the Criminal Court.
Earlier this Wednesday, Dheebanaz and Misbah took their oath in a ceremony that was held at JSC after they voted in favor of the committee’s recommendation. Their oath was administered by Supreme Court Justice Husnu Al Suood.
Dheebanaz, one of the new appointed judges is the first female judge to be appointed to the Criminal Court of Maldives. The female judge has a Bachelor of Law (Honors) from Islamic University Malaysia, and a Master of Law from University of Canterbury in New Zealand. In addition to that, she also has 17 years of experience in criminal litigation, which includes service as Deputy Prosecutor General.
The other judge, Mizbah has a Bachelor of Sharia and Law from Al-Azhar University in Egypt, along with six years of experience as a public prosecutor and in private practice. Mizbah also has experience in teaching law as well.
Along with the two judges that were appointed early this Wednesday, the Criminal Court now has a total of 11 judges.
