High Court allows legal fees for obstruction in employment cases

The High Court has issued a significant ruling, determining that legal fees can be charged to the opposing party in employment-related cases if there is clear evidence of systemic abuse, obstruction of justice, or an undue waste of the employment tribunal's time.

This decision stems from a case involving the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the employment of a doctor at the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH). The case centered on a dispute over the job rank of a Maldivian doctor working as a Consultant in General Surgery.

While the employment issues were eventually resolved after the case was filed in court, a fee of MVR 35,000 was charged for legal services. The CSC challenged this fee, leading to the High Court's review. A three-judge bench of the High Court, however, upheld the decision, ruling that attorney's fees can be recuperated under specific circumstances.

According to the High Court's judgment, the prevailing party may recuperate their advocate fees if it is reasonably believed that there has been an abuse of the system, an obstruction of justice, or if the tribunal's time has been wasted.

In reaching its verdict, the High Court considered practices in developed countries, citing examples from Singapore, England, Malaysia, India, and the United States as precedents for this ruling.

The bench that heard the case in the High Court was led by Justice Hussain Mazeed, and also included Justice Fathimath Farheeza and Justice Mohamed Shaneez Abdulla. The three judges unanimously passed the verdict.