Parliament passes bill setting the age requirements for JSC members

The parliament has passed an amendment to the law relating to the Judicial Service Commission so that the minimum age of a member of the commission is set at 30.

It was North Maafannu MP Imthiyaz Fahmy who proposed amending the law so that the age requirement for JSC  would be raised to 40, however, this was met with staunch opposition from many lawyers and even the Bar Council.

The bill was amended in the committee process so that the age requirement for JSC members would be 30 and passed the parliament vote with the approval of 62 members. The law was also amended so that any lawyer who stands in the election for JSC would be required to have a license to practice in the Supreme Court license.

The bill was first proposed so that elected JSC members would not be able to practice in any court of the Maldives. However, this was also amended so that the chief justice would now be allowed to practice.

There are also provisions on how to remove the president and vice president of JSC from the posts in the bill. The motion would have to be presented by four members of the commission and gain the majority of the remaining members to remove the president and vice president of JSC. The bill also states that if such a motion is on the agenda, no other motion can precede it. 

The current president of JSC is Supreme Court judge Abdulla Areef.