Taking action against Judges is not the responsibility of the Police: JSC

Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has said that the Police do not have the Constitutional authority to take action against Judges.

JSC said today that according to article 159b of the Constitution and article 21b of JSC law, it is the responsibility of the Commission to investigate complaints regarding Judges, and to submit the case to the Parliament in case a Judge is to be dismissed.

“This is not something the Maldivian Police have any authority over, according to the laws mentioned above,” JSC said in a document published today.

JSC said that they have been ordered to suspend processing the case relating to Judge Abdulla, until the Civil Court makes a decision on this matter.

As the Commission does not believe that the Civil Court has the authority to make such a decision, they submitted the case to Supreme Court, and were informed that this matter should be submitted to High Court instead. The Commission is now working on submitting the case to High Court.

JSC said that they dedicate Wednesdays to investigate complaints made against Judges, and that they are making efforts to expedite the process of such cases.

They further said that out of 306 complaints submitted, 208 have been investigated and completed, and that they are working on investigating the remaining 128 complaints.

The President has sent a letter to the Commission requesting them to expedite the implementation of actions to be taken against Chief Judge Abdulla Mohamed.