Bar Council says licenses cannot be issued through training program

MP for North Maafannu Imthiyaz Fahmy has said that the Bar Council of the Maldives has once again provided excuses to the parliament by saying that licenses for attorneys could not be issued by completing a one-month training program, according to the proposed amendment to the Legal Profession Act by the Judiciary Committee of the Parliament.

The act stipulates that the license can only be issued when the bar exam is completed. A large number of graduates are expressing concern over the fact that a bar exam is yet to be formulated despite the act being ratified almost a year ago. 

The Judiciary Committee of the Parliament proposed the move to issue licenses to graduates by undergoing a one-month long training program for graduates currently waiting, after evaluating a proposal by Dhangethi MP Mohamed Nazim.

MP Imthiyaz speaking on the letter received from the Bar Council, said, “They sent the letter and said that this cannot be done. We are very dejected. The Committee found a very good solution of middle ground on the matter with this report.” 

He said that it was very concerning that the Bar Council would send a letter saying that a training program could not be carried out and called on the Bar Council to facilitate the move for the rights of the graduates. 

After policies for the training program are formulated and published on the gazette, the program must be conducted within a period of seven days, according to the amendment.  Upon completion of the training program, the Bar Council must facilitate the licensing of the graduates within 21 days. 

The graduates would still be required to take part in the next bar examination, despite undertaking the training program, however, the amendment does not say what is to happen if they do not do so. Voting on the amendment for graduates unable to obtain their licenses are to be held in the parliament today.