Yameen says 18 years of experience show the JSC’s composition must change

Former President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom said on Sunday evening that the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which has been in place for 18 years, has demonstrated through experience that the Constitution must be changed.

Speaking at a rally held by his PNF party, Yameen said recent years have shown that the current composition of the JSC is not the right one.

The JSC consists of the Speaker of Parliament, a Supreme Court judge, a High Court judge, a lower court judge, a member of Parliament, a public representative appointed by Parliament, the Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission, a member appointed by the President, the Attorney General and a lawyer.

The JSC is responsible for maintaining ethical standards and integrity within the judiciary. Yameen said the commission includes judges and individuals who may themselves be subject to ethical inquiries.

“Members of Parliament, those appointed by the President, the Attorney General and judges from the High Court and the Supreme Court cannot investigate their own behaviour. I think even the youngest child will agree with that,” he said.

Yameen said the JSC should be completely independent, with no politicians or judges serving on the commission.

“So this 18 years of experience has told us that we don’t like the composition of the JSC. Otherwise, I would just say that the composition of the JSC should change,” he said.

The country’s current Constitution turned 18 years old on August 7 last year.

Both the current government and previous administrations have proposed changes to the JSC. Yameen’s government was accused of influencing the Supreme Court and Parliament. The MDP came to power in 2018 after pledging to remove political influence from the JSC, change its composition and reform the judiciary. However, in 2019, despite holding a clear majority in the 19th Parliament, the party did not carry out the reforms as promised.

The then-opposition PPM submitted bills three times to change the composition of the JSC, but the MDP rejected all three attempts.

In early December last year, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu also reiterated his intention to change the composition of the JSC and said he would submit an amendment to the government’s supermajority Parliament.