Request has been made for foreign Judges: Foreign Minister

Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem has said that the United Nations has been requested to send a team of foreign Muslim Judges in order to solve the current issues in the Maldives, and that this team is expected to arrive in the country shortly.

Minister Naseem said that a letter was send today to the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay, requesting for a team of foreign Muslim Judges, in order to solve the current problems faced by the courts of the Maldives.

Minister Naseem said this at a Press Conference held today at Foreign Ministry regarding his trip to Japan from 16 to 19 January.

He said that the letter was sent as part of President Nasheed’s efforts to solve the problems faced by the courts.

“I have sent a letter to the office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights. In this letter I have asked for assistance in solving the current problems faced by the courts of the Maldives. I requested that a team of international-standard Judges be sent to Maldives. I sent this letter subsequent to President Nasheed’s efforts last week,” Naseem said.

Minister Naseem said that President Nasheed had spoken with officials of the United Nations and Commonwealth on the phone, and requested for their assistance in solving this issue.

He further said that the German government has assured assistance to the Maldivian government regarding this issue, and that the government is currently seeking the help of the European Union as well. He hopes to receive assistance of foreign Muslim Judges as per the government’s requests for the past three years.

Minister Naseem further said that the Foreign Ministry will work in collaboration with the UN towards facilitating the arrival of the team of foreign judges in the Maldives.

Naseem also said that since the beginning, the current government has made attempts to improve the judicial system; however, no success has been achieved in this regard as we lack the courage to make these efforts.

“We have been working towards improving our judiciary since the beginning of this government. However not much has been achieved in this regard because we do not have the courage or capability to make these efforts. This lacks in all of our institutions,” Naseem said.

When asked if the government is seeking foreign assistance because the government does not believe that it can solve the issues at hand without foreign assistance, the Minister said that the Maldives has obtained help from the outside world to improve the judicial system for a very long time. He further said that there are few people in the Maldives who have the capability to do this in accordance with international standards, and as such, the best thing to do is to obtain foreign assistance.

“We have had foreign assistance on issues relating to our Constitution and legal system for a very long time. This is because there are few people among us who can carry out these things in line with international standards. Perhaps they do not have enough time to do so,” Minister Naseem said.

While the government is making statements about bringing in foreign Judges, according to the Constitution, it is the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) which holds the authority to appoint Judges. Moreover, Judges have already been appointed to the Supreme Court and High Court.