The Parliament of the Maldives has passed the amendment bill to the Legal Profession Act to allow the Bar Council to investigate lawyers for crimes they commit that are unrelated to their profession. The amendment bill passed with 58 votes in favour.
Parliamentarian Yoonus Ali proposed the amendment bill on behalf of the government. The bill passed with two more amendments proposed by Parliamentarian Ahmed Usham.
The bill proposes to amend Article 54 of the Legal Profession Act, which currently does not allow the Bar Council to take disciplinary action against lawyers over actions taken that are unrelated to the profession. The amendment proposes to allow the Bar Council to investigate public complaints filed against lawyers regarding any action they have taken that violates criminal laws or undermines the trust in the justice system.
The amendment also proposes to allow the Bar Council to begin its own investigation into lawyers over any incident that undermines the trust in the justice system and the standards and principles by which lawyers conduct themselves. The Legal Profession Act currently does not allow the Bar Council to begin its own investigations or accept complaints related to lawyers being accused or found guilty of criminal offenses.
Furthermore, the amendment proposes to empower the Bar Council and provide more opportunities for the Bar Council to receive funding. The executive committee of the Bar Council will also be required to approve the budget with clearly defined capital and recurrent expenses. It will also be required to make expenses in accordance with the established regulations and deposit its income to a specified bank account.