Judge of the Criminal Court of the Maldives Hassan Najeeb has submitted his resignation amid a motion to dismiss him from the position.
The Parliament of the Maldives has scheduled a motion to dismiss Najeeb as advised by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) following an investigation to his disciplinary issues. JSC made the decision after investigating a disciplinary case submitted against Najeeb in relation to his active involvement in political activities and issuing unlawful orders.
JSC stated Najeeb had tried to gather support for a candidate who contested in the 2017 local council elections and played an active role in signing up an individual for a political party. JSC also revealed Najeeb had used his influence to annul the candidacy of another candidate who contested in the elections.
Furthermore, JSC revealed Najeeb had also organised a gathering to seek support for a candidate contesting in the 2018 presidential election. The commission also found Najeeb guilty of issuing an unlawful order to arrest two individuals, despite receiving no requests for an arrest warrant from an investigative authority.
JSC stated his actions violated Clause 142 of the Constitution of the Maldives and Clause 32 of the Judges Act, as well as three clauses of the Disciplinary Standard of Judges. Therefore, the commission submitted a dismissal motion to the parliament to remove him from the Criminal Court.
Najeeb resigned claiming there are no grounds in the judicial system which grants judges to sentence independently and transparently.He further claimed the parliament is biased, noting he does not believe his dismissal motion will be concluded in a just manner.