Parliament approves Supreme Court appointments

The Parliament has passed the appointment of two Supreme Court justices. The two justices appointed to the top court are Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim and Criminal Court senior judge Ali Rasheed Hussain.

The Parliament’s Judiciary Committee approved the nominations of the two on August 24.

President Solih nominated the names of Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim and Criminal Court senior judge Ali Rasheed Hussain to the Supreme Court on August 19. 

55 MPs voted for Judge Ali Rasheed while one MP voted against his appointment. Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim got the vote of 63 MPs.

Judge Ali Rasheed currently serves as the senior judge of the Criminal Court. He was appointed to the post on November 5, 2020, after the suspension of the-then senior judge Ahmed Hailam by the JSC. He had also served as a judge at the Civil Court.

Judge Ali Rasheed, is most well-known for his presence on the bench of judges that sentenced former President Abdulla Yameen for money laundering in a trial held late last year. Opposition parties have criticized the judge and the government for the sentence which they believe was politically motivated. The opposition coalition had dubbed the appointment of Rasheed to the top court as a “gift” for sentencing Yameen. 

Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim is a Ph.D. graduate of philosophy in Islamic Commercial Law from the University of Malaysia. He completed his Masters in Commercial Law from the UK and has been practicing as a lawyer for 16 years.

The court consists of seven justices in total. The current five justices are Chief Justice Ahmed Muhthasim Adnan, Justice Azmiralda Zahir, Justice Aisha Shujoon, Justice Mahaz Ali Zahir, and Justice Husnu Al Suood. Judge Ali Rasheed and Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim will take the remaining two seats to complete the bench.