Attorney General (AG) Ibrahim Riffath has decided to resolve the concerns related to the proposed amendment bill to the Judges Act.
The amendment bill was proposed on behalf of the Government of the Maldives in order to bring crucial changes to the rules and regulations of the judiciary such as providing a residence for judges who are not homeowners. It includes allowing judges to apply for public housing and improving their salary and benefits structure and setting a minimum living allowance of no less than 30% of their basic salary. It also proposes to hike the retirement age from 55 to 65 years of age.
The main point of concern was the proposal to provide housing to judges from projects being conducted by the government and private companies and the changes to the living allowance. AG Riffath said that the purpose of the proposed living allowance is to allow judges who are not homeowners to have equivalent salaries and benefits. He also said that the amendment bill will be changed to allow judges to apply for land or housing in their residential island or city if they do not already own a home. He also assured that changes will be made to the proposed living allowance in order to implement the change for judges who wish to retire at a specified age
The changes proposed by AG Riffath will be sent to the Parliamentary Committee on Services, which is evaluating the amendment bill.