Chief Justice of the Maldives

Chief Justice of the
Maldives
since December 8, 2019
StyleThe Honorable (formal)
Chief Justice (formal)
Member ofParliamentary Committee
Supreme Court
SeatTheemuge
NominatorPresident of the Maldives
AppointerPeople's Majlis
Term lengthLife tenure
Constituting instrumentConstitution of the Maldives
FormationSeptember 18, 2008 (not fully functional until 2010)
First holderAbdulla Saeed
SalaryUp to Rf. 200,000 [citation needed]
Websitesupremecourt.mv

The chief justice of the Maldives is the most influential member of the judicial branch of the Maldives. He is appointed by the president of the Maldives.

He is a member of parliamentary committee and one member of the five Supreme Court justices. He overlooks on cases and handles national crises, including the 2011–12 Maldives political crisis as an example, as well as the protests in Maldives between 2015 and 2016 which left more than 1000 people injured.

There have been several chief justices in the Maldives, with the Honorable Uz Abdulla Saeed being the inaugural holder under the current constitution. He was appointed as a justice of Supreme Court of the Maldives, which was brought into being by the Constitution in 2008, and assumed office as chief justice of the Maldives, pursuant to Article 285 (b) of the Constitution, on 18 September 2008.

Appointment and removal

There have been several chief justices since the creation of the position in 2008.

Appointment

The president sends the name of the nominee or nominee's to the People's Majlis. It is debated if the nominee is fit and qualified to be the chief justice. The voting will take place after the debate and if approved it would be sent back to the president to appoint the new chief justice.

Removal

The removal of the chief justice is taken by People's Majlis. The president is not allowed any direct input in the decision, and cannot take any action against it. To be officially removed from office he must get a majority of the People's Majlis to vote in favor of the removal.

List of chief justices

Chief Justice Date originally appointed as a Justice Tenure Length of tenure Appointed by
1 Abdulla Saeed
(born 1964) 		September 18, 2008 September 18, 2008
–
August 10, 2010 		1 year, 296 days Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom
2 Ahmed Faiz August 10, 2010 August 10, 2010
–
December 11, 2014 		4 years, 123 days Mohamed Nasheed
3 Abdulla Saeed
(born 1964) 		August 10, 2010 December 15, 2014
–
June 20, 2018 		3 years, 187 days Abdulla Yameen
4 Ahmed Abdulla Didi
(born 1966) 		August 10, 2010 June 28, 2018
–
November 18, 2019 		1 year, 143 days Abdulla Yameen
5 Ahmed Muthasim Adnan
(born 1968) 		August 10, 2010 November 18, 2019
–
Incumbent 		5 years, 36 days Ibrahim Mohamed Solih