Male’, Maldives – The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed new Chief judges for the High Court and Criminal Court of Maldives at a ceremony earlier today.
JSC President Hisaan Hussein gave Haathif Haleem his letter of appointment as Chief judge of High Court, and Ahmed Shakeel his appointment letter for Criminal Court Chief judge.
JSC has said that Ahmed Shakeel has a Bachelor of Shari’ah and a Masters in Shari’ah from Villa College and has 17 years of judicial experience at the Juvenile, Civil and Family Court.
The newly appointed Chief judge of High Court, Haathif Haleem has a bachelor of law from Oxford University, and has served as a Civil Court Judge for 10 years, with a further 11 months served as a High Court judge.
Five new Magistrate Court judges also swore in today, along with judges appointed as judges at the Juvenile Court and Criminal Court
Requirements for most judicial positions include being of at least 25 years, attained at least a degree in Islamic Shariah or Law or both Islamic Shariah and Law and have a minimum experience of 2 years as a judge or a lawyer.
Further requirements include being mentally stable, being a Sunni Muslim, currently not fulfilling a political post, must not be active in a political party or be a member of such a party and must not have been convicted for bribery or a treacherous offence or an offence that is punishable in Islamic Shariah in the past.
In addition to this, the individual applying for the post must not be a person that has been convicted of an act of terrorism or an offence under the Penal Code and must not have been punished for that offense within the past 7 years. Furthermore, the person must not currently be serving a sentence for a criminal offense. The person must also currently be paying off any loans taken.
