The meeting time with lawyers for incarcerated or detained individuals have been extended by one hour.
Right after president Abdulla Yameen declared a state of emergency in the island nation on February 5, the meeting hour was slashed to half an hour.
In a circulation released by Maldives Police Authority on Sunday, it read that lawyer meeting time is scheduled from 09:00hrs till 18:00hrs on everyday except Fridays and Saturdays.
The announcement further read that lawyers can meet with their clients on these two days [local weekend] should their clients have a hearing on the following day or during the weekend itself, which had to be formally approved by the custodial in-charge.
While Maldives Police had asserted that lawyers can meet with their clients for a duration of one hour, extra time would be provided if the incriminated individual carries more than one charges - which was granted in order to provide sufficient time to discuss each case individually.
The authority had specified that should the alleged individual is assigned with one lawyer for all their charges, the lawyers will be granted extra 30 minutes for each individual case their clients are being tried for. Whereas if multiple charge carrying individuals are assigned separate lawyers for each of their case, then lawyers will receive the fixed one hour duration.
Furthermore if the detained individual carrying a court ordered verdict on them, lawyers must present the verdict document to authorities prior to meeting with their clients.
Maldives Police had also affirmed they reserve the right to temporarily suspend lawyers should they breach the conduct or regulations of the penitentiary or attempt to impede police investigation.
