JSC “fully controlled by political figures”: lawyer for Chief High Court judge

Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is set to face another court battle after attorneys representing Chief Judge of High Court Ahmed Shareef announced on Thursday that they would challenge the commission’s decision to suspend the judge.

Chair of JSC, Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed, had earlier held a press conference declaring the commission had decided to “indefinitely suspended” Chief Judge Shareef, over a complaint filed against the judge last year.

That decision came hours after the High Court temporarily halting the hearings of a case against the JSC lodged by former President Nasheed – who has accused the judicial watch-dog of exceeding its mandate in appointing the three-member judges panel to the Hulhumale Magistrate Court currently hearing a criminal case against him.

According to the JSC Chair, the suspension of Chief Judge Shareef – who is among the three judges presiding over the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) presidential candidate Mohamed Nasheed’s case – was a “precautionary” measure while investigation of the complaint was proceeding.

Judge Shareef in the new Civil Court lawsuit against the JSC will be represented by former Attorney General and veteran lawyer Husnu Al Suood and his law firm, Suood, Anwar and Co.

Briefing the media about the court case which is set to be filed on Sunday, Suood said that Chief Judge Shareef was suspended in contrast with the existing laws and the decision undermines the independence a Judge requires in executing his legal duties.

He said the Chief Judge’s team of counsels will plead in court that the decision by the JSC was an attempt to unduly exercise influence over judges.

He also added that once the case is registered at the Civil Court, a request will be made at the Supreme Court to take over the case, as has been the previous practice.

The Supreme Court previously took over the case filed at Civil Court by prominent lawyer Ismail Wisham against the JSC, challenging the legitimacy of the Hulhumale Magistrate Court it created.

The case was also represented by Suood, which eventually led to the Supreme Court endorsing the legitimacy of the controversial court in a 4 to 3 majority decision in which Chair of JSC and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed cast the controversial deciding vote, despite initial pleas against the judge sitting on the bench by Suood on the ground of ‘presumption of bias’.

“Not a small thing”

Speaking of the JSC’s decision, Suood – who is also the President of Maldives Bar Association – said the suspension coming after the JSC sitting’s on the case for a year was “not a small thing”.

“That is not a small thing when you get a suspension after one year. Suspending a country’s Chief Judge of High Court is not a small thing,” he said.

JSC Chair Adam Mohamed has meanwhile said “there are no legal grounds to stop looking into a complaint submitted [to the commission] or halt proceedings”.

According to local media reports, the call for an indefinite suspension of the Chief Judge was proposed to the JSC by the incumbent Attorney General Aishath Bisham – who is yet to receive parliament’s consent following her appointment – and was passed by the vote of three members out of the 10-member commission.

Those who voted in favour included two representatives of the executive branch, the attorney general herself, the President Mohamed Waheed Hassan’s representive Mohamed ‘Reynis’ Saleem, and a third vote by Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Didi.

The public’s member to the JSC Sheikh Shuaib Abdul Rahman opposed the motion while lawyers’ eepresentative Ahmed Rasheed and Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chair Mohamed Fahmy Hassan abstained. High Court Judge Abdulla Hameed did not participate in the vote.

Both the Speaker of parliament Abdulla Shahid and Parliament’s representee to the commission MP Gasim Ibrahim did not attend the meeting.

Politically motivated and influenced

Suood said the JSC’s passing of a motion to suspend the judge with a vote of just three members – two of whom represented the executive – lead to presumption that the vote had been influenced.

He said that such a grave motion being passed by the support of just three members also led to the belief that the JSC was seeking to undermine the independence of the judges.

“There is reason to believe this decision had political motives behind it,” said the veteran lawyer.

Suood further said the decision could also be perceived as a way to prevent a further delay of the case filed by Nasheed, who is contesting the legality of the three-member judges panel appointed to Hulhumale Magistrate Court by the JSC.

“The JSC is one party to the ongoing High Court case of which Chief Judge Shareef is among the judges who presiding over the case. It is wrong in every aspect for JSC to take action against the judge,” he said. “Due to such actions, public confidence in state institutions is being lowered day by day.”

“Entire judiciary under the influence of retired Supreme Court Judge Mujthaaz Fahmy” – Suood

Suood also alleged that two parliament members and a retired Supreme Court judge have long been influencing the work of judges and their verdicts on several cases.

Suood claimed that the presidential candidate for the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and PPM MP Ahmed Nazim, and retired Supreme Court Judge Mujthaz Fahmy have long been in the business of influencing the judges and the verdicts they had been issuing.

He further contested that his allegations were based on evidence, and said he would do everything possible to make the judiciary free from such undue influences.

“The entire judiciary is under the influence of [retired Supreme Court Judge] Mujthaaz Fahmy ,” he alleged.

Suood further alleged that Deputy Speaker Nazim had close ties with members of the JSC, and said several judges had told him that Yameen Abdul Gayoom – half brother of  former President of 30 years, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – had on several occasions given instructions to the judges over the phone as to how their sentences should be phrased.

Despite claiming to have strong evidence to support his allegations, Suood admitted that it would be extremely difficult for the authorities to take action against the three individuals.

JSC juggling judges to appease politicians

Suood further contended that the JSC had been taken over “dark powers”, and that it was fully under the control of certain political figures.

He alleged that in a bid to serve the interests of a few politicians, the JSC was planning to juggle judges from court to court and even had planned to give salary increments to certain judges.

Among the planned switches, Suood claimed that Chief Judge of Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed – who was taken into military detention during former President Nasheed’s administration over allegations of gross judicial misconduct – is set to be transferred to Civil Court, while JSC member and Criminal Court Judge Abdulla Didi will become the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court.

Among other changes, Suood claimed that JSC had been working to transfer the two “best serving” Civil Court Judges – Judge Aisha Sujoon and Judge Mariyam Nihayath to the Drug Court.

“These things are carried out under a great plan. They are installing judges to courts as they please,” Suood said.

Denial

All the three individuals accused by Suood have dismissed the allegations in responses given to local media.

Speaking at a membership event held in PPM’s headquarters on Friday night, PPM’s presidential hopeful Yameen Abdul Gayoom denied the allegations, describing them as an “outright lie”.

“The JSC is taking action against a judge. They don’t have judges sitting on the JSC. Therefore I do not believe anyone can influence the JSC,” Yameen said.

He further expressed his frustration over the allegations claiming that it had become common for people to make erroneous and slanderous remarks against political figures.

“This would not have happened if defamation had been kept as a criminal offence. All this is happening because defamation has now been changed to a civil wrong,” he said.

He further said that even though he did not influence judges and their work, he admitted to speaking about lapses within the judiciary and the delaying of cases on public forums.

“It would be better for Suood to stop making such irresponsible comments and focus on working for his clients,” Yameen responded.

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10 thoughts on “JSC “fully controlled by political figures”: lawyer for Chief High Court judge”

  1. Defamation was converted into a civil suit rather than a criminal offense by PPM's running mate in 2005 - Dr. Mohd Jameel

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  2. As they would say, this is the tip of the iceberg.

    Politicians are worthless scum, preying on the gullible Maldivians. They always have been.

    The Saudi funded camel-beards scare the brains out of all.

    The Maldivians believe in getting a castle in heaven, if they do everything these politicians say.

    So, Suood, yes, we know this. But does anybody care to rattle the cage?

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  3. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence knew this. Yameen and Jangiyaa are the Al-Capone "family" of the Maldives. Just like the real Al-Capone, they have the judiciary and the law enforcement agencies under their thumbs.

    It will take a minor miracle to come up with enough evidence against the Al-Capones. How can it be otherwise? This is a country where murderers roam free after slashing throats in broad daylight! What chance is there to bring to justice to a very well connected and protected gang of thieves who operate from "within the system" itself?

    I'm not saying Suood's mission is futile. If he can do it, generations of Maldivians will thank him for it.

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  4. This country isn't special except that one might assume its too tiny to contain every issue every other country is dealing with. Human condition. Period.

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  5. Judiciary is under the claws - yes. Thats no 1, no 2 and no 3 serious issue for Maldives. Without and independent judiciary, a constitution means nothing.

    But MDP and opposition has failed to highlight the seriousness of the issue even after 2008 election.

    And what was all that carbon neutral noise and film about sea level rise by Nasheed when in Government.

    He should have focussed on nothing else but the judiciary.

    Independent judiciary should be the one and only issue in the upcoming election. Cut all this b*llshit pse..

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  6. @Yes but...

    He did. He tried very hard. And the MDP parliamentary group in Majlis did all they could. Do you remember the walk outs, the demonstrations outside Majlis in 2009 and 2010?

    They couldn't get the laws passed because Majlis was controlled by Remove Nasheed From Office Campaign leaders who made sure the judicial reform laws required by the constitution for the judiciary did not get passed by the end of the transition period set by the new constitution.

    If you went on the Parliament website and archives you will get all the details about bills submitted by President Nasheed to reform the judiciary and the Penal Code.

    Most, if not all of that work was done by Husnu Suoodh when he was AG. The people of the Maldives owes this man more than we will ever know.

    If you ask me, the SOURCE of all the difficulties we have experienced since November 2008 lies in the Majlis.
    Voting themselves fat salaries and allowances, fringe benefits like health care in Singapore and Bangkok and other trappings of power, the Majlis members who obstructed legal reform and the introduction of new laws that was CRITICALLY needed for our nation have a lot to answer for.

    I think we should boycott the parliamentary elections if these guys who blocked the badly needed laws for our nation stand for their seats again.

    But then I can wish for the moon. We all know this won't happen. We will vote the same people back in again. Such is our destiny.

    Because come election time the big black rubbish bags of millions of rufiyaa will be brought out from the warehouses and it will be raining rufiyaa in the islands.

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  7. How apt that Husnu Sood should be talking about politicians controlling the JSC when he is taking advantage of such politicians controlling the courts and judges. This is a guy who uses corruption to win his cases and all this is just drama from his side. Nothing heroic about this guy. Husnu Sood is an example of lawyers who make us doubt that lawyers are representatives of justice.

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  8. Mention of Al-Capone reminds me... Expiry dates are placed on milk bottles and containers/cartons in the USA thanks to none other than Al-Capone. He did not want children to suffer the ill-effects of drinking expired milk the way he did as a child, so he made sure that the Mayor in Chicago arranged for expiry to be placed on milk.

    I find it interesting that Al-Capone had to do something so evil, to acquire the power to do something SO GOOD.

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  9. al soodhu, make a living by defending and murderers and drug addicts. he is now a rich man.

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