Parliament of Maldives has approved the appointment of Ahmed Muthasim Adnan as Chief Justice and Husnu Suood as a Supreme Court Judge.
The parliament approved the appointment of Muthasim as Chief Justice with votes from all 68 parliamentarians present during the vote. The appointment of Suood as a Supreme Court judge was approved with votes from 64 parliamentarians. Only one parliamentarian voted against the appointment.
Muthasim had previously served as a Supreme Court judge from 2010 to 2014. He was removed from the apex court by the parliament after an amendment was passed to the Judicature Act, which reduced the number of judges at the Supreme Court from 7 to 5. Along with Muthasim, former Chief Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain was also removed from the Supreme Court.
Husnu Suood had previously served as the Attorney General during the administration of former President Mohamed Nasheed. He is currently serving as the President of the Commission on Investigating Murders and Enforced Disappearances (DDCom).
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih sought the counsel of Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on appointing Muthasim and Suood to the Supreme Court on November 28. President Solih also sought the counsel of JSC on appointing Civil Court Judge Abdul Rauf Ibrahim to the Supreme Court. However, JSC did not nominate Rauf's name to the parliament, stating the commission is investigating some complaints submitted against him.
Major changes have been brought to the judges' bench of Supreme Court this year. Former Chief Justice Ahmed Abdulla Didi and former Supreme Court judges Adam Mohamed, Abdulla Didi and Abdul Ghani Mohamed have been dismissed from the Supreme Court by the parliament. Meanwhile, former Supreme Court Judge Abdulla Areef retired from duty last month.
Judges currently serving at Supreme Court are Aisha Shujoon Mohamed, Mahaaz Ali Zahir and Dr. Azmiralda Zahir, who has been leading the court until the appointment of a new Chief Justice.