President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has returned the Fifth Amendment to the Judicature Act, which proposed reducing the number of Supreme Court Justices from seven to five, without ratification.
The Parliament passed the amendment during the ninth sitting of its first session of 2025, held on 26 February, and subsequently submitted it to the President’s Office for ratification.
The President’s Office said the President returned the bill for Parliament reconsideration on 11 March, in accordance with Article 91(a) of the Constitution.
The President returned the bill to the Parliament after seeking the Attorney General’s counsel on the matter. Speaking to PSM News, the Attorney General, Ahmed Usham shared the Attorney General’s Office (AGO)’s findings upon reviewing the bill on the President’s request.
According to the Attorney General, the AGO’s recommendation to the President took into account the existing provisions of the Constitution and the Judicature Act. The Attorney General said that although both the Constitution and the Judicature Act require the competence of judges to be assessed in disciplinary cases, the bill does not specify a clear process on how to assess the competence of judges.
Noting that three Supreme Court justices are currently under suspension due to criminal investigations, the Attorney General stated that there is no way to assess the competence of the judges within the period stipulated in the law by ratifying the bill at this time.
“The bill states that the number of Supreme Court justices must be reduced only after assessing the competency of the judges. However, currently, we do not have seven justices at the moment. As some justices are under suspension at this time, we do not have the means to assess the competency of seven justices. Therefore, it is our opinion that it would not be fair to exclude the justices under suspension, and simply assess the remaining judges and make a decision based on that. Considering these factors, and as some other provisions of the bill also contradicts the law, I have advised the President against ratifying the bill,” the Attorney General said.
According to the bill, the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) is tasked with recommending the removal of any justice deemed unfit for their role, with such recommendations submitted to Parliament. A two-thirds majority vote in Parliament is required to remove a justice.
Additionally, the bill stipulates that the JSC must propose the names of the justices it seeks to dismiss within five days of the bill's ratification. Parliament is then required to make a decision on the removal within seven days of receiving the proposal. The remaining justices will continue in their positions. The bill specifies that this process includes weekends and public holidays and grants both the JSC and Parliament the authority to exempt specific dates and technicalities mandated by laws and guidelines to ensure proper implementation.