Tag: maldives

JSC appoints Judge Naeem to Juvenile Court as punishment

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed Judge Mohamed Naeem – who is currently a Civil Court Judge – to the Juvenile Court to punish him for disobeying the decision of a superior court.

The decision to transfer Naeem to the Juvenile Court was made during a meeting of the JSC held last Thursday, the commission said in a statement.

‘’The commission decided to do so as an action taken against Judge Mohamed Naeem for he has refused to conduct trials of cases concerning the state before the parliament gives consent to the [then] Attorney General [Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad],’’ reads the statement.

The JSC said that the case was investigated by the sub-committee formed to recommend disciplinary measures against judges.

Last Monday, the JSC announced that it had formed a subcommittee to investigate complaints about judges, indicating that its first subject was Civil Court Judge Naeem. This is the first case against a judge the JSC has conducted in more than a year.

The investigation of Naeem came after he reportedly declaring during the first hearing of a case filed against the state that he would not hear cases involving the state before parliament approved the reappointment of former Attorney General Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad.

Naeem’s decision was in defiance of precedent set by both a majority of Civil Court judges as well as the High Court, which had ruled that such cases could be heard before the AG received parliamentary consent.

The very same day parliament rejected for a second time Dr Sawad’s reappointment.

According to the JSC, the committee – which includes JSC Chair and Supreme Court Justice Adam Mohamed Abdulla, Judge Abdulla Didi and General Public Member Shuaib Abdurahman – was established under the Judges Act and that its first scheduled task was selected by a vote taken among its members.

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Maldives to go dark for Earth Hour

The Maldives is participating in Earth Hour this evening and will turning off all non-essential lights and electrical appliances from 8:30pm-9:30pm.

In his weekly radio address, President Nasheed said Earth Hour was an attempt to raise awareness about climate change and encourage people to change their habits in a more environmentally friendly way.

¨Earth Hour¨ is global event marked by World Wildlife Fund for Nature on the last Saturday of March every year, asking everyone to turn off their non-essential lights and electrical appliances for an hour, to raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change.

President Nasheed also paid tribute to the Maldivian national football team for winning the first two games of the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers played in Malé last week to qualify to the AFC Challenge Cup to be held next year.

Hailing the national team´s first ever qualification to the AFC Challenge Cup as pride and glory for the country, he congratulated the national team.

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Maldives becoming an attractive place to own property: CityAM

For years, the Indian Ocean’s most exquisite islands, the Maldives, have been solely the preserve of hotels. Now, they’ve begun to open up to foreign buyers, thanks to new laws introduced by the pro-enterprise President Mohamed Nasheed, writes Zoe Strimpel for London’s CityAM newspaper.

“Before Nasheed, elected two years ago, leaseholds were too short to attract European buyers – but they have now been extended to 50 years, with plans to extend them to 99 years over the next few years. As a result – with zero income or capital gains tax, not to mention utterly idyllic surrounds – the islands are swiftly becoming an attractive place to own property.

“Of course, there’s always the threat of trouble in paradise – the Maldives were on the 2004 tsunami’s hit list, with several resorts totally wiped out. And, we’ve all heard predictions that the atolls could be under the ocean within a few years.

“Insurance is your main guard against the first concern. Buyers pay a small percentage of the overall insurance cost which is rolled into the annual maintenance charges and equates to 1.5 per cent of the purchase price per annum. Many villas have now also been constructed with tsunami-resistant timber.

“The second worry can be taken with a pinch of salt if you’re so inclined. Some scientists say that if the Maldives are to slip under water, it won’t be for 200 years. So, even if the worst is to happen, you should still have a while to enjoy your luxury villa in sunny Eden.”

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Opposition split to MDP’s benefit: Eurasia Review

Knowing very well that the skeletons in the ‘cupboard’ would be dug out, [former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom] did the right thing in seeking a deal so that he was left out of harm’s way, writes Dr S Chandrasekharan for the Eurasia Review.

“President Nasheed despite pressure from his colleagues in the MDP did leave Gayoom alone. Yet Gayoom, overtaken by greed for power or perhaps pressure from his relatives, returned to Maldives hurriedly to campaign for the DRP candidates in the local elections conducted recently.

“There is no doubt that Gayoom could claim credit for the smooth transition to democracy and no ‘Jasmine Revolution’ was needed. He had let the tourism industry to flourish despite objections from some of the religious extremists and more importantly kept the Islamists under control. Having provided a good constitution, he should have remained as a great “Patriarch,” keep away from politics and at the same time ensure smooth and peaceful transition.

“He could have as well attended to more critical social and environmental problems confronting the country in his retirement and remembered in history as the maker of modern Maldives. But he chose to stand for presidential elections. He did not do badly either though he lost in the “run off.”

“Now old skeletons are being dug up. The “Week” of 20th February from India, has extensively written about the family of Gayoom of having indulged in an illegal oil deal with Myanmar worth over $800 million and a report is now said to be submitted to the current President Nasheed by a Singapore Consultancy firm Grant Thornton.

“It was just eleven months ago that Gayoom personally handpicked his successor Thasmeen Ali to lead his party DRP and the latter was unanimously elected. Differences have been brewing between the ‘Supreme leader’ Gayoom and the President of the party Thasmeen Ali for some time now, ever since the deputy leader of the party Umar Naseer was sacked from the party. Gayoom’s family members openly alleged that Thasmeen was ‘ill-treating Gayoom’.

“The net result is that the DRP, which is a formidable opposition is in the brink of splitting up into two or more parties. The coalition partner PA led by Gayoom’s half brother Abdulla Yameen is alleged to be behind the split and yet he declared a few days ago that his party for the present will stick with DRP.

“The advantage as of now thanks to the re-entry of Gayoom is with MDP which has been making steady gains ever since it failed to get a majority in the parliamentary elections and has been facing stiff opposition on every issue including the appointment of cabinet ministers till now.”

Read full story

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Two arrested for recording nude footage in Thinadhoo

Police Spokesperson Lance Corporal Abdul Majeed Moosa has said that police have arrested two persons in Thinadhoo after it was reported that a group had recorded nude footage of a group of visiting athletics officials.

Moosa said that the visiting officials went to the island to attend ‘Makita Inter Atoll Junior Athletics Championship’ held on Thinadhoo.

”We can’t give more information as the investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Local newspaper ‘Haveeru’ reported that the two nude videos were of two foreign officials.

The paper reported that sources familiar with the case has said that the videos were recorded inside the bathroom secretly and some of the videos have been leaked.

The incident has caused the other members of the officials team to be concerned that their videos might also have been recorded secretly.

All the officials stayed in one house and there were two toilets in that house which both males and females in the team used during their stay in Thinadhoo.

Recently police arrested 14 persons for recording nude videos and pictures of senior government officials through facebook.

Police have not yet provided further information of the case.

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“Sunlight is the best antiseptic”: the case for an independent judiciary

The structure of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is compromising its accountability and obstructing the creation of an independent judiciary, says Professor Murray Kellam, a former Australian Supreme Court Justice who has spent several weeks observing the group.

The UNDP brought Kellam to the Maldives to observe the JSC based on a recommendation in a report by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) that suggested the commission be subjected to independent outside oversight.

As well as a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Kellam is the current Chief Commissioner of the Tasmanian Anti-Corruption Commission and also has extensive experience assisting with the development of legal systems in countries such as Burma and Bangladesh.

He has also been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia, an award given for distinguished service of a high degree to Australia or humanity at large.

“I think there’s a real problem when you’ve got members of both the executive and the legislative body administering judicial affairs,” Kellam said, on conclusion of his visit to the Maldives.

“You have the Speaker, Attorney General and an MP sitting in judgement on their own recommendations. That situation doesn’t need describing any further.”

Kellam said his observations were not intended to be critical of the members of the JSC, but rather to assist in the development of an independent and respected body.

In other countries it was usual for the Chief Justice to chair the body responsible for judicial accountability, but the members were made up of respected people from the community “rather than those allied to the executive or legislature.”

“The process in your Constitution here is that [in the event of] gross misconduct and gross incompetence, the Majlis (parliament) has the job of dismissing them, and that’s consistent with other places in the world. But the problem is that the body making the recommendation is also the membership.”

Kellam was provided with full access to the JSC’s meetings and files during his visit, however he acknowledged that language was a barrier – most significantly, the lack of official English translations of most legislation.

“The unofficial translation of the Constitution is pretty good, but I have doubts about the accuracy of the translation for the JSC Act. The UNDP assisted, but the [language gap] makes it pretty difficult.”

However, Kellam said that he agreed with the ICJ’s recommendation that parliament should evaluate the JSC “and ensure it operates more transparently.”

“There may be an argument that the appointments and complaints processes [for judges] should be separated,” he said. “At the moment it appears that the expectations of the authors of the constitution are not being met.”

There had been, he noted, a requirement for the JSC to undergo training, ”but that was removed by the Supreme Court and subsequently by the legislature.”

Urgent legislation required

Beyond a review and possible reform of the JSC by parliament, the Majlis needed to urgently pass a Criminal and Civil Code, a Penal Code, and an Evidence Act, as currently, “the courts have no guidance as to the exercise of their powers under the constitution.”

“These legislative enactments ensure consistency on the part of the courts and a proper legal basis for the process of litigation,” he said, adding that under the current circumstances, “I can’t see how the courts can operate. The importance of the legislature passing such legislation cannot be overstated.”

As for oversight, the parliament, he said, was entitled to take an interest in the functioning of the judiciary, as the courts were funded by public expenditure.

However, Kellam did mirror the concerns of the ICJ at the interference of the executive, and particularly, the “the extra-constitutional use of the Maldives National Defence Force and police and defiance of court orders.”

He noted the ICJ’s concerns over public statements of members of government meeting with judges and members of parliament imploring the President to ignore both the courts and the legislature: “Actions such as this brought Hitler to power,” he warned.

Judges needed to be able to make decisions contrary to interests of the executive, and should not be subject to pressure from the politically powerful, commercially powerful or any other specific social interest groups.

“I have in my own career made decisions the government was extremely unhappy with – but they did what they were told in due course, because that’s the way the rule of law operates.”

At the same time, “‘Rule of law’ does not mean ‘rule of judges’. Judges are not free to do as they wish. They are subject to the Constitution and the laws enacted by parliament. It is not their role to make disparaging
remarks about parties, witnesses who appear before them, or to send signals to society at large in order to intimidate and undermine other basic freedoms such as freedom of expression.

“Respect is not gained through coercive use of power. The judiciary earns respect by its performance and its conduct,” Kellam said.

Framework in place

The Maldives’ Constitution provided an excellent model for an independent judiciary, “much better than the ones in many countries I’ve worked in,” Kellam said.

“There was quite clearly a real endeavour to set up accountability mechanisms, such as the JSC, Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and provision for an independent prosecutor – a really significant step.

“But having a model is one thing, executing the plan is another. In the end that depends on the calibre and integrity of people who run these organisations. They need to set the gold standard in terms of behaviour, conduct and transparency.”

Paying judges generously was a significant part of the equation, he said, recalling a judge he met in Cambodia who drove taxis at night to avoid having to accept bribes.

Australia, he commented, had never had a judge convicted of bribery.

“Judges misbehave in Australia just like elsewhere, but we do not have corruption. I think that’s a reflection of accountability, but also a significant reflection of the fact that they are well-paid. As a judge in Australia you would have to be extremely silly [to accept a bribe], because the risk of losing your salary and all your pension entitlements is simply too high.”

Transparency trumps nepotism

In both his interview with Minivan News and a lecture held on completion of his visit to the Maldives, Kellam repeatedly emphasised the importance of independence.

It was not, he said, necessarily a obstacle to independence that the Maldives was a small country with myriad family, political and business connections.

“I chair the Anti-Corruption Commission in Tasmania, a state with a population of 500,000 people,” he said. “Many families have been living there a very long time, and everyone knows everyone else which is a reason why they brought an outsider like me to chair their Anti-Corruption Commission.

Transparency, he said, was the answer to the problem, and was as much a defence for those drafting contracts with those they knew as a means of mitigation corruption.

“There should be a declaration at the start of meetings, where interests should be stated,” he said.

“If you are awarding a contract to your brother-in-law, which can happen in Tasmania, it must be on the table. The person awarding contract should make the declaration. It must be a similar problem for judges in island courts here – judges here know the islanders, but you can’t have them disqualifying themselves.

“We have a jury system in Australia, and in a town with a population of 20,000 the jury will know all the victims and the witnesses. The important thing is that there is transparency and it is on the stable.

“Sunlight is the best antiseptic. The real problem of perception happens when these things are not out in the open – when they are done under the table, and somebody says ‘Hang on, he’s related or they had dinner the other week.’ If it is in public, decisions can be made impartially. If it’s disclosed you can look at the tender process and say ‘Not withstanding that this person is the uncle of the person delivering on the contract, on the face of it this is transparent.’ That’s entirely different to somebody awarding a contract to a relative behind closed doors.”

Rulings had to also be open to public scrutiny, and actively published and subjected to public analysis. Judges and their verdicts were open to scrutiny and criticism, Kellam said, and in Australia it was understood that judges did not pursue cases of defamation against them.

The economic case for justice

An impartial judicial system was a key factor in encouraging foreign investment, Kellam said, and could have a direct and significant impact on the economy.

This was something that Singapore recognised 15 years ago, he said.

“They understood the value of a civil system that is incorruptible and competent. They spent a lot of money on their judiciary and Transparency International now rates their civil legal system as one of the best in the world.

“Singapore realised that one of the best ways to attract investment was to have a system whereby international investors knew they would get a fair go in domestic courts. If you look at the circumstances in other parts of the world where investors have no confidence in the judiciary, that deters investment and takes it offshore. They’ll go somewhere else.

Citing Adam Smith, considered one of the founders of modern capitalism, Kellam observed that “Commerce and manufacturers can seldom flourish long in any state which does not enjoy a regular administration of justice, in which people do not feel themselves secure in possession of their property, in which the faith of contracts is not supported by law.”

As a foreign investor, Kellam said, “you want to know that contact you enter into with domestic partners will be understood and enforced by courts if there is a breach. You want courts to judge you impartially – you don’t want to be discriminated against because you are a foreigner.”

“Secondly, it’s no good getting judgement if no there is enforcement – which is a major factor in developing countries. Sure you can get a judgement, but it’s not worth the paper it’s written on because there is no process for getting it enforced, and you can’t turn judgements into anything productive.”

Singapore had recognised this, and become not only a hub for foreign investment but also a regional hub for commercial arbitration.

“People from around the region will use Singapore as a place of law and business,” Kellam observed.

“The constitution sets up [an independent judiciary] for principled reasons. But there are not only good arguments for these in terms of principle, there are very good economic arguments. But the judges have got to understand that, and they’ve got to build it.”

Perhaps tellingly, President’s Member of the JSC Aishath Velezinee observed on her blog that “not a single member of the Judicial Service Commission (except for myself) or staff attended Professor Kellum’s lecture.

“What cannot be ignored is that neither the JSC nor the judges have the willingness and interest or the knowledge and capacity to reform the judiciary in accordance with the Constitution, despite the rhetoric.”

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Conrad resort claims resolution found to on-site strikes

Strike action at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort was bought to an end last night as staff at the site returned to work following alleged disputes over service charge policy, management have said.

In a statement issued today, the resort, which is part of hospitality conglomerate Hilton Worldwide, claimed that operations were returning to normal after being affected in “a small way” by a number of its staff convening in their quarters on Tuesday (22 March) to call for increases in the amount received from service charges.

As the country continues to review labour laws that would outline policies for striking at resorts, possibly outlawing protests by workers on the “shop floor”, the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island said this week’s industrial action had not result in any customers prematurely checking out from the site.

With the wider national Labour Act still awaiting approval in the Majlis, the Conrad resort said that it had attempted to try and open up negotiations with staff following commencement of the strike action on Tuesday evening.

“The hotel respects the rights of all employees to express their points of view in a lawful and non-disruptive manner. As such, team members were invited to discuss the issue with the management team in order to resolve the matter quickly and fairly,” the resort stated. “The staff were unwilling to discuss the matter despite several approaches.”

By yesterday morning (March 23), figures from the Crown Company, which owns the resort in question, as well as representatives from the labour and tourism ministries arrived to discuss the strikers’ grievances – initially without success. However, the company has claimed it was able to find a resolution by 7:00pm on Wednesday evening with staff returning to work “immediately”.

Although the Conrad Rangali Island was unable to provide details to Minivan News of the exact changes it might be making to its operations to conclude the strikes at the time of going to press, the resort claimed in a previous statement that it was willing to review its operations.

“The management’s position is that it is happy to re-evaluate the calculation of the service charge. Additionally, the resort will arrange for independent auditing of accounts to demonstrate that the service charge is distributed in its entirety,” the company said yesterday in a statement.

“The staff had already been informed on Tuesday that salary increases will be offered across the board and are expected to be higher than in previous years following a month-long survey of wage levels in the country.”

‘Sim’ Mohamed Ibrahim from the Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) said following the resolution of the strikes that regulations that would outlaw strike action on resort property were currently under the consideration of the country’s parliament.

Sim claimed that the regulations, expected to be passed as part of a new Labour Act outlining a framework for the nation’s work practices had been drawn up by lawyers along with the assistance of a number of bodies including the President’s Office.

“There is regulation in the works that would govern strikes in the country,” he said. “It has been made very clear in public notifications from the labour ministry that has clarified that ‘wildcat strikes’ should not be tolerated.”

Although the strike regulations are still being reviewed within the Majlis, Sim said that they would likely be passed in their final form as part of a national labour act rather than an individual bill relating to industrial action.

He claimed additionally that the regulations were not related to outlawing strikes, but ensuring instead that industrial action did not take place on the private property of resort owners.

To this end of trying to ensure worker’s rights, Sim said he believed that the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture had already sent details of correct resort grievances procedures to the striking workers, which he claimed had not been followed.

Workers’ groups in the country such as Tourism Employees Association of Maldives (TEAM) have been openly critical of initial drafts of the strike regulations though, which it claimed were less about regulating industrial action but rather outlawing them altogether.

TEAM president and serving Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MP Ahmed Easa has previously claimed that the organisation openly supported regulations that accepted that there has to be a reason to instigate strikes, as well the manner of how they should be conducted.

Back in November, a bill outlining possible standards for strike action was passed to the Majlis’ National Security Committee concerning possible amendments to regulations for industrial action at the country’s resort properties

The bill was initially passed to parliament in August by the Dhivehi Qaumee Party (DQP) in attempts to try and curb strikes such as those seen last year at Kurumba resort that reduced occupancy rates to zero for a period.

Parliamentary debate over the bill has seen both fierce opposition and support from figures across the tourism industry, who have argued that current unregulated strike action is detrimental to travel income.

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Shahum arrested on an uninhabited island in Meemu Atoll

Police have arrested Ibrahim Shahum Adam, 20, G.Kouzy while he was on an uninhabited island in Meemu Atoll.

He was arrested this morning around 7:00 am, said police on their website.

According to police, four others who were with him on the island were also arrested.

Police have been searching for Shahum for the investigation of the death of Ahusan Basheer, Seenu Hithadhoo, Varudhee who was allegedly murdered by a gang on March 17.

Previously police has appealed the public to report sightings of Shahum after the murder case and also warned the public not to confront him as ‘’he is too dangerous.’’

This is the second murder charge against Shahum. He was recently arrested in connection with the murder of a 17 year-old boy near Maaziya football ground in Maafannu.

Shahum was arrested and kept in detention for six months and was released by the Chief Judge of the Criminal Court Abdulla Mohamed.

Judge Abdulla said that Shahum had been kept in detention six months for investigation and that no probable evidence was brought against him to further hold him in detention and queried the police as to why their investigation was not concluded after six months.

Police answered that they were unable to conclude the investigation as the Health Ministry had not provided the medical-legal report on the death of the 16 year-old boy.

Keeping someone in detention for six months for not getting a response from the health ministry was ‘’too much’’, said the judge, explaining that there were rights of persons kept in detention and released him.

Ahusan Basheer was murdered last Thursday in Alikileygefaanu magu, one of the main roads in Male’.

Local media reported Basheer’s family saying that he was not dead when he was first taken to Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), and that inside the vehicle on the way to the hospital he had told the police officers who attacked him before dying.

Basheer’s family also said that according to sources at IGMH Basheer’s body was left in the Accidents and Emergency Room without any treatment provided for more than an hour, because the hospital wanted to identify who he was and to contact his family.

His family told local newspapers that he went out late that night to buy a cigarette and that was the last his family saw him alive.

After the death of Basheer, police conducted special operations in Male’ to curb the rise in gang violence in Male’ and arrested 47 persons who were not related to the murder case, according to Chief Judge Abdulla.

Most of the persons among the arrested 47 were brought before the court with no probable grounds to be arrested, he added.

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Fire triggered from Orchid house’s electricity meter board, says MNDF

The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) Fire department has said that investigation into the fatal fire in Orchid this week had revealed that the fire was sparked by a faulty electricity meter board in the house.

‘’The fire started from the meter board and spread, and turned to a huge fire,’’ said the MNDF in a statement, suggesting that the cause of the fire incident was electricity.

MNDF said that the fire department first received the information at 9:21am in the morning, and the fire department attended the area and tried to control the fire at 9:27 am.

At 9:57 that morning, MNDF said that “90 percent” of the fire was under control.

‘’While they were trying to control the fire firefighters received information that two persons were stuck inside , as soon as officers knew about it, a team from the fire department entered the house searching for the two persons,’’ MNDF said. ‘’When officers found the two persons they were inside a 15 ft-9 ft room build on a wooden deck which was severely damaged by fire when officers reached there.’’

MNDF said that officers had noticed that neither of the two persons were showing any movement when they were discovered and that their bodies had been severely burned by the fire.

There were three women and one man in the house when the incident occurred, two of them died while the third was a maid in the house who escaped on her own, said the MNDF.

The man received minor injuries during attempts to save the other two women, however after he escaped through the window to get someone to assist him to rescue to the two inside, the fire spread and he was unable to get back inside afterwards, according to the MNDF.

The identities of the two victims were identified as Iuthisham Adam and Dhon Sitthi of Haaji Edhuru, the mother of both Deputy Health Minister Fathimath Afiya and Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the UN in Geneva, Iruthisham Adam.

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