Law to be amended to revise retirement age for judges to 65

An amendment has been proposed to the Judges Act, to set 65-year-old as the age of retirement for judges.

A bill proposing important amendments to the Judges Act was publicized by the Attorney General’s Office (AG Office) on Sunday.

The most prominent amendment proposed in this regard, is to set 65-years-old as the age of retirement for judges. As per the current law, the age of retirement for judges is set at 70-years-old.

As per the amendment, judges may request to retire with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) upon turning 65-years-old, following which they will be granted the opportunity to retire in line with regulations set out by the Commission.

Another amendment included in the bill aimed to ease difficulties judges currently face with respect to housing, stipulating that arrangements shall be made for judges to apply for land plots or flats issued under housing schemes of the government or a private party.

An amendment to how living allowance is currently allocated for judges was also put forth. In this regard, the bill states that the living allowance of a judge shall not be lower than 35 percent of their basic salary.

Apart from this, the bill also includes amending the requirements an individual applying for the post of a magistrate must meet – being having served two years as a legal assistance in a judicial court, or having served two years in a similar position in the legal sector.

AG Office said that the Bill to Amend the Judges Act has now been sent to the President’s Office, in order for it to be submitted to the parliament. The President’s Office will then send the bill to Maldivian Democratic Party’s (MDP) parliamentary group.