Applications open for two vacancies at High Court

Applications opened on Thursday for two vacancies that opened at the High Court after two of the court’s judges were appointed to the Supreme Court.

The vacancies opened after the court’s former chief judge Hussain Shaheed and judge Mohamed Saleem were appointed to the Supreme Court.

In an announcement on Thursday, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) opened applications for two judges at the High Court. Applications for the jobs, which carry a monthly remuneration of MVR 67,000, expires at 12:00 pm on July 16.

Interested candidates have been instructed to file their applications to the JSC’s counter during working hours or via the commission’s Fahires portal.

The High Court is currently operating with nine out of 11 judges. They are:

• Chief judge Mohamed Faisal
• Judge Mohamed Niyaz
• Judge Hussain Mazeed
• Judge Hassan Shafeeu
• Judge Fathimath Farheeza
• Judge Huzaifa Mohamed
• Judge Dheebanaz Fahmy
• Judge Mohamed Shaneez Abdulla
• Judge Abdul Maniu Hussain

The court’s former judge Shaheed was appointed to the Supreme Court following the resignation of Husnu Al-Suood, while Saleem, along with former High Court judge Abdulla Hameed were appointed to the top court following the controversial dismissal of justices Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir.

The dismissal of Azmiralda and Mahaz on May 14 had come despite serious concerns regarding lack of due process and procedural fairness in the disciplinary proceedings against them by the JSC.

On February 26, Azmiralda, Mahaz and Suood were suspended by the JSC, citing an ongoing investigation by the against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). All three were hearing a case challenging the controversial move by the ruling People's National Congress (PNC) to write anti-defection clauses into the Maldivian constitution. It had come less than one hour ahead of a hearing scheduled at the Supreme Court regarding a request for an injunction to suspend the enforcement of the controversial anti-defection clauses. It also came shortly after the ruling PNC used its supermajority in the Parliament to push through amendments to the Judicature Act to downsize the Supreme Court bench from seven to five justices - a bill that was later tabled following public backlash.

Suood resigned from the top court in protest of JSC’s decision, and the commission later opened misconduct cases against Azmiralda and Mahaz, accusing them of conspiring to influence the Criminal Court.

The case against them stemmed from the allegation that they exerted their influence over the Criminal Court to secure the release of Azmiralda’s husband, Dr. Ismail Latheef, an anesthesiologist, who was arrested during a police raid on a massage parlor in Male’. However, Criminal Court judge Ibrahim Zihunee’s statement to JSC shows Mahaz had called him after Latheef was already released from police custody.

Meanwhile, the then-assistant registrar of High Court, Hussain Mohamed Haneef, who testified against Azmiralda and Mahaz at the JSC, was recently appointed to a senior position at state-run utility company, Fenaka Corporation.

President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu, whose administration has been accused of deliberately undermining the country’s judicial independence, denied these claims in a press briefing on May 3, describing the events that fueled the allegations as mere “coincidences.”

The JSC has come under fire from both local and international organizations over its decision to push for the dismissal of the Supreme Court justices. On June 4, multiple international bodies sent an open letter to President Muizzu urging him to suspend the impeachment of Supreme Court judges, citing reports of serious procedural concerns.