Male’, Maldives —The Committee Chair of the Parliament Judiciary Committee, Imthiyaz Fahumee has stated that the delay in the Civil Procedure Bill is because the Attorney General’s Office sending the wrong bill to the Committee.
The statement from Committee Chair, Imthiyaz Fahumee comes after the Legal Councilor of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Ahmed Abdulla Afeef stated that delay in Parliament’s work is appearing as an obstacle in delivering justice.
While speaking at at press conference held by the Parliament’s Judiciary Committee, Imthiyaz stated that the Judiciary Committee received the Civil Procedure Bill on February 12, 2020.
After the Committee began researching the Civil Procedure Bill, Imthiyaz said that they had received a request from the Attorney General’s Office stating that the bill sent to the Parliament was a wrong bill. Imthiyaz stated that the committee had halted their work and that they awaited for the correct bill from AG’s Office.
On July 14, 2020, AG’s Office had amended the Civil Procedure Bill and sent it to the committee. Imthiyaz informed that this consisted of only the first two chapters. After this, the AG’s Office informed the Juidiciary Committee on October 13, 2020 that they would complete the entire bill and sent it to the Committee by October 18 of the same year.
However, Imthiyaz stated that the Committee had not received the proper completed bill on the given date as well and that it was a huge concern for the Judiciary Committee.
One day we heavily discussed regarding the matter and made an official decision that the Committee cannot carry out the work of this bill, as the AG’s Office did not send the correct version to the Committee. … We were forced to make this decision.
Imthiyaz Fahumee, Chair of the Parliament Judiciary Committee
Imthiyaz revealed that the AG’s Office had given multiple dates to present the bill and as last it was given on November 4, 2020. While noting that almost a year went by without the committee receiving the correct version of the bill and that it was finally given to Committee, they were busy carrying out the annual budget work.
Imthiyaz stated that the Committee is highly concerned over the statement given by Legal Councilor Ahmed Abdullah Afeef and that it is very difficult to properly research and inquire when different parts of the bill is sent.
At a press conference held on behalf of the President’s Office last night, the Legal Councilor, Ahmed Abdulla Afeef went into detail on the administration’s efforts in delivering justice.
Ahmed stated that President Solih took over the Office with an important pledge to deliver justice for those who were unjustified in the previous administration. However, Ahmed noted that the President’s pledge is not only about the changes brought to the courts or delivering justice to those who were imprisoned wrongfully.
One of the most important thing in this is to give back on the losses that people had to face when their agreements were canceled illegally.
Ahmed Abdulla Afeef, Legal Councilor President’s Office
While saying that the most justifiable way to give back on the losses that people have faced is through the law, Ahmed noted that the Civil Procedure Bill that the government sent to the Parliament on February of last year is still not completed and that this is an obstacle in delivering justice to those who were wronged.
The Civil Procedure Bill is presented by the Attorney General’s Office as a method to fill the gaps in the civil law system of the Maldives, to allow the cases presented to the three tier court systems to be looked into more justifiably and with equality as the civil system does not consist of the regulations that need to be followed when a civil issue rises.
