More time is required for Judiciary to be completely independent- ICJ

International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has said that more time is required for the Judiciary of the Maldives to be completely independent.

Speaking at the press conference held at Dharubaaruge yesterday to release the report of ICJ on state of the Maldives’ judiciary since the advent of democracy, entitled “Securing an Independent Judiciary in a Time of Transition”, ICJ’s Asia-Pacific Director, Roger Normand said that the country is in the process of practically making the Judiciary completely independent.

Roger Normand said that ICJ has made an independent assessment of the judiciary of Maldives and that ICJ has found that still much is needed to be done to secure a totally independent Judiciary.

ICJ Asia Director said that until the year 2008 Maldives had no independent judiciary. He said that starting from 2008, with the transition of Maldives into democratic reforms; the judiciary has been made independent by the Constitution. However, he noted that up until now it is not completely independent in practice.

“As of 2008, Judiciary had no independence, it was zero. Starting from 2008, the Judiciary is getting independent and has a long way to go,” he said.

Roger Normand underscored the importance of transparency and removing any undue political influence from the Judiciary for it to attain total independence in practice.

ICJ’s Asia-Pacific Director noted that the country is heading towards the right direction and that all sides, both the government and the opposition, have publicly pledged to work for the independence of the Judiciary.