The Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions has once again cancelled a meeting scheduled with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), calling an hour before the meeting set for 11.15am this morning [Wednesday, December 15].
The JSC has remained dysfunctional for weeks, since in-fighting on Article 285 disrupted the Commission earlier this year. A serious concern, as the JSC is the only constitutional body to check judges’ misconduct and impunity. Over a 100 complaints remain unchecked.
The Parliament has failed to hold the JSC accountable despite repeated complaints and appeals by member Aishath Velezinee since February 25, 2010, when concerns were raised that JSC had unconstitutionally abolished Article 285 as symbolic.
The last appeal on the matter to Parliament was on August 4, 2010 requesting an injunction order to prevent the JSC from going ahead with the symbolic oath-taking before the Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions had looked into pending complaints.
Since then, member Velezinee has publicly accused the Speaker Abdulla Shahid and MP Dr. Afraasheem Ali, both ex-officio members of JSC, of unlawfully abolishing Article 285 of the Constitution and using the JSC as a tool in a covert coup attempt to derail constitutional democratic government through denying independence to judges, and preventing the establishment of an independent judiciary.
The Majlis, as well as media, has remained silent on JSC and Article 285, despite the very public declarations.
On December 1, 2010, the Secretary General of the Majlis sent a letter of invitation to JSC stating that the parliamentary oversight body, the Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions, requested a meeting with members of JSC on 6 December 2010.
Another letter arrived on December 5, 2010 informing that the said meeting was postponed to 9 December 2010.
Another letter arrived on December 9, 2010 informing the JSC that the Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions had decided to postpone the said meeting indefinitely, and that a date would be informed at a later date. No reason for the summons was specified in any of the letters sent by the Majlis, nor was a reason specified for the indefinite postponement.
Late afternoon on December 14, 2010 an urgent letter arrived from the Parliament Secretariat, informing that the Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions requested to meet with JSC members.
That is now cancelled, the cancellation letter informing once again that “a date for the said meeting would be informed at a later date”.
Earlier, the parliamentary oversight body failed to respond to a number of requests for intervention, first made in writing by Member Aishath Velezinee on 25 February 2010.
On Sunday, Dec 12, 2010, JSC member Velezinee sent a 34-page letter to the Parliament refusing to appear before any Parliamentary committee and explaining the reasons for her decision.
When the Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions met JSC on August 2, 2010, the first and only time it did to date, JSC members was informed halfway into the meeting that it was not in relation to complaints on Article 285. It was a “routine check”.
What the meeting was about, no one, neither members of the Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions nor JSC understood. It was mentioned that the matter of Article 285 was a serious issue and was being studied.
The matter of audio tapes on Article 285 having been edited at the request of certain members of JSC before they were submitted to Parliament was dismissed with the words, “We are not talking about audio tapes today”.
The matter of JSC members paying themselves despite a clear constitutional clause that specified no ex-officio member would be paid, was ignored.
The fact that JSC had not adopted Standard Operation Procedures and other regulations despite Article 40 of the JSC Act stating they be adopted within six months of appointment, a deadline which passed on January 26, 2010, went unnoticed.
The matter of JSC having censored its own Annual Report for 2009, removing information the JSC Act required to be included in the report, had not been noticed by any member of the Parliamentary oversight committee for Independent Commissions.
The question perhaps is, who can hold the Speaker accountable?
Aishath Velezinee is a member of the Judicial Service Commission of the Maldives (JSC). She holds a Diploma in Journalism (IIMC, India; 1988), BA in Government; and in Women’s Studies (University of Queensland, Australia; 2000) and a Masters’ in Development Studies (Institute for Social Studies, Netherlands; 2004).
http://www.velezinee.aishath.com/content/why
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