The Parliament of the Maldives has passed the amendment bill to the Criminal Procedure Act, which lists rape as one of the 11 serious criminal offences under the Act.
The amendment bill to the Criminal Procedure Act was submitted to the parliament on behalf of the government by Parliamentarian Hassan Zareer. The bill was reviewed and approved by the Parliamentary Committee on Judiciary on August 24. The bill was passed by the parliament on September 6, with votes from 59 parliamentarians.
The amendment bill specifies 11 serious criminal offences, which include rape, murder, pedophilia, terrorism, money laundering, human trafficking, drug trafficking, tax evasion, bribery, corruption and financial crimes worth over USD 6,500. The bill also grants law enforcement agencies the authority to conduct searches related to an investigation of a criminal offence without a prior court warrant.
The amendments brought to the bill during committee stage include mandating remand orders to be revised every 30 days in cases where the judge decides to remand a suspect until the end of the trial. The suspect has to be brought to the remand hearing to determine whether there is any justification to keep the suspect under custody. Furthermore, the bill states any individual who is brought under police custody for questioning must be allowed a phone call to a lawyer or relative in order to inform them of the situation.
The amendment bill to the Criminal Procedure Act will become a law upon ratification by the president.