The judiciary needs swift reform

I'm shocked at some recent sentences passed by the Male' criminal court. Not that I think them to be too harsh or too leanient, but it contradicts common logic. The more stronger reason is that two parties were recently acquitted while some others were convicted for the same charges under the same situations in the recent past. Not years, but only a few months ago. One party were acquitted for possessing fake US dollars, the court saying there is no such penal code to prosecute them. In the other case, some known gang members were acquitted for possessing dangerous weapons, the court saying, again, there is no such penal code to prosecute them. I wonder under which penal codes did the judges convict others in the past.

I know our penal code is outdated and not good for our times. Yet, I believe that does not mean the judges should pass down sentences to encourage or permit the production of fake foreign currencies and gang violence across the roads of Male' using dangerous weapons. There are several ways to manage this if the judges could think outside the box and until the new penal code is approved by the parliament. I call upon the parliament to approve the penal code under debate as early as possible rather than squabbling over the salaries of current and former presidents. Our parliamentarians must put needs of the society before their party politics.

The presidency has changed, the parliament has changed but not the judiciary. The same judges who were promoted to high ranks due to special linkage with the former regime. Their qualification and experience had not been a criteria then. Hence we see today people who have only first degrees and less than 5 years experience sitting as judges at the prominent highcourt. I don't believe a person is fit to sit as a judge as soon as he has arrived from abroad with an LLB. They must undergone proper training to be a judge and obtain enough experience in the legal system. As a person who had managed cases from both the lower courts and the high court I must say the high court is much disorganised and poor in their performance. Several of their sentences are self-contradictory like the case of Velivaru and Biyaadhoo.

Can the new judicial commission bring about the much needed reform the people expect from a court system which many had believed did not serve the justice?