Any changes to Supreme Court Bench should come under constitutional amendment: Nasheed

Any changes to the number of justices at the Supreme Court Bench must be made with amendment to the constitution, said Mahomet Nasheed, former President and President of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Speaking to reporters before he departed to participate in the Asia Pacific Business Forum, Nasheed said that it is not befitting to downsize the Bench with statutory changes, referring to a bill proposed to amend Maldives Courts Act, which if passed would see the 7-member Bench of the Supreme Court decreased to 5.

“Amending the law is not the best and most fitting way to do it”, said Nasheed.

The amendment bill was proposed by Ibrahim Shareef, MP for Maradhoo Constituency and a member of Nasheed’s Maldivian Democratic Party’s Parliamentary Group.

Nasheed observed that a Bench decreased in size with a statutory amendment would leave the Bench one-sided.

“We think that if this happens as is now proposed, we would see a Supreme Court which is biased and very much one-sided”, said Nasheed.