Pres ratifies amendment increasing top court bench to seven

President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified the parliament amendment to the Judicature Act.

The Amendment was passed by the Parliament at the 22nd ‎sitting of its ‎second session, on 17th July 2019. Following ratification, the ‎Act has been ‎published in the Government Gazette.

Following the ratification of this amendment, the total number of judges on the Supreme Court bench is now seven, composed of a Chief Justice and six additional judges.

The Supreme Court was originally established with a seven judge bench. However, in 2014, the number of judges on the bench was decreased to five, after which then Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussin and Justice Ahmed Mu'tasim Adnan were dismissed from the bench.

Increasing the top court bench to seven was part of the government's legislative agenda. The proposition to increase the number of top court justices was submitted to the parliament by Henveiru Central MP Ali Azim.