Judges colloquium concludes

Senior Maldivian judges met their counterparts from other South Asian countries during a two-day colloquium on equality and non-discrimination, held by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Four members of the Maldivian judiciary, including Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Abdullah Saeed, met 18 judges from eight other countries at Bandos Island Resort to share experiences of implementing human rights law and international treaties.

The UN’s coordinator of the event, Rory Mungoven, emphasised that the while the colloquium had only invited two judges from all other countries, “this was a regional event, not a Maldives focused event.”

“This was the first event of its kind in the region and I think it’s very significant that it happened here in the Maldives,” he said.

“You have a new constitution, a newly emergent judiciary, and a government that has engaged very positively with the UN on human rights issues,” he added.

The new constitution came into effect last year introducing a separation of powers and a bill of rights.

Mona Rishmawi, head of the UN’s Human Rights Commissioner’s branch of equality rule of law and non-discrimination, said the Maldives had experienced many changes over the past few years and like any country going through constitutional change and testing relationships under the separation of powers, “clearly has serious issues to address.”

“There are really significant issues [facing] this country and I think meeting like this and seeing how other countries establish courts, what is the rule of jurisprudence, case management and how you deal with a backlog, is very important for new courts and especially important for a judiciary trying to re-initiate itself under different rules.”

Abdullah Saeed, chief justice of the Maldives Supreme Court, acknowledged the judicary faced obstacles. “We are in a stage of infancy [regarding] the separation of powers and so there are some issues arising in terms of understanding constitutional principles,” he said.

While he considered the process mostly peaceful, some conflict with other branches of government “was natural” for a fledgling judiciary, he said, adding that a “presidential system of government is not a very easy system in any jurisdiction.”

Saeed expressed hope that parliament would pass the new evidence bill, which would allow increased use of forensic evidence by the courts and lessen reliance on direct evidence.

The evidence bill is at committee stage and if passed will offer witness protection and forms of evidence other than just confessions as in the past.

“When this bill is passed as law it will give clear ideas and guidance of how to use new ways of [admitting] material or circumstantial evidence, especially evidence based on forensic science,” he said.