Chief Justice Muthasim files for retirement

Maldives’ Chief Justice Ahmed Muthasim Adnan has filed for retirement.

Sun has learned that Muthasim, who recently hinted at retirement, filed for retirement with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) on Thursday.

Speaking at an oath-taking ceremony for new lawyers back in February, Muthasim remarked the possibility of not seeing him again at such an event, in that role.

“I am now an elderly person. It is entirely possible that you would not see me at another such event, in this capacity,” he said.  

Muthasim’s retirement comes amid heightened rumors claiming that the government is influencing the judiciary.

JSC suspended three Supreme Court justices on February 26^th – Husnu Al-Suood, Dr. Azmiralda Zahir and Mahaz Ali Zahir – citing criminal investigations against them by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Suood subsequently resigned on March 4^th as JSC investigated disciplinary cases against the three justices.

The Commission, on Sunday, said its Disciplinary Committee found both Azmiralda and Mahaz guilty of influencing Criminal Court judges and, as such, recommended their dismissal to the Parliament.

Three out of the seven Supreme Court justices were suspended as the court reviewed a case challenging a contentious amendment to the Constitution that added anti-defection clauses. The controversial amendment added three more circumstances where parliamentarians will lose their seat, including if they are expelled from their political party.

On the same day the justices were suspended, a ruling PNC-dominated Parliament passed a contentious amendment to the Judicature Act to downsize the Supreme Court bench from seven to five justices. However, President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has sent the bill back to Parliament for reconsideration. The Parliament has again sent the bill to Judiciary Committee for amendments despite calls from the opposition as well as from within PNC itself to reject the bill.

Both Azmiralda and Suood have accused President Muizzu of influencing the judiciary – an allegation denied by the President during a press conference on Saturday.

Muthasim holds a Master of Philosophy in Transnational Commercial Law from the University of Glasgow, the United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) from the University of Buckingham, the United Kingdom. 

He served as Director of Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1994 to 2001. In 2001, he was appointed Dean of the newly established Faculty of Sharia and Law at what is now the Maldives National University, a position he held until 2005.

From 2005 to 2010, he was a Partner at Clipper & Galleon, a law firm in the Maldives. During his career, he also held positions on the Human Rights Commission, the Law Commission, and the Foreign Investment Board of the Maldives.

In 2010, President Mohamed Nasheed nominated him as one of the inaugural Justices of the newly established Supreme Court, formed under the 2008 Constitution. He served on the bench until the end of 2014.

He was reappointed to the Supreme Court, this time as the chief justice, on December 8^th, 2019, by former president Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.