Supreme Court judgeship application deadline extended

The Judicial Service Commission has extended the deadline for applications to be submitted to the three vacant seats on the Supreme Court bench.

Due to lapse today at noon the extension will allow applications to be submitted until 16:00 today.

JSC announced applications to the bench were open on November 21. The three seats left vacant were filled by former Chief Justice Dr. Ahmed Abdulla Didi, Judge Adam Mohamed Abdulla, and Judge Abdulla Areef.

The Chief Justice and Judge Adam Mohamed were impeached by the Parliament while Judge Areef retired from the court due to ill health shortly after the impeachments took place.

The three judges were all under investigation by the JSC. Apart from them, Judge Abdul Ghani of the Supreme Court is also currently under investigation by the JSC and the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Applicants to the post must be Muslim and adhere to the Sunni sect. He/She also must not be in an elected position stated in the law and must not be a member of an activist of a political party. The applicant must not be convicted of corruption, misappropriation, bribery, or any other crime stated in the penal code.

He/She must also not be convicted or undergone a sentence of any sexual crimes or acts of terrorism in the last seven years. The applicant must also be above the age of 30 and attained a degree in Islamic Shariah or Law or both. The applicant must also have practiced law as an attorney or a judge for seven years.

The Supreme Court is currently run by Judge Dr. Esmeralda Zahir, who is one of the first female judges on the highest appeal court in the Maldives. The Supreme Court bench is currently formed of four judges.

In addition to Judge Dr. Esmeralda, the bench is comprised of Judge Aishath Shujoon, Judge Mahaz Ali Zahir and Judge Abdul Ghani Mohamed. The latter is currently under a suspension of 60 days pending the outcome of the investigations against him.