Lawyers gathered in front of the Supreme Court to submit a petition raising concerns over the Maldivian judiciary.
The European Union and British Ambassador to the Maldives on Monday criticized the mass suspension of over 50 lawyers in the archipelago over an “unlawful” petition they submitted to the Supreme Court.
In a tweet posted late on Monday night, the Delegation of the European Union to the Maldives declared, “Suspending 54 lawyers isn’t the right way to address issue of ‘obstructing independence of the justice system’”, with the hashtag #EU4HumanRights.
The British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and Ambassador to the Maldives, James Dauris, also voiced concern over the unprecedented development, describing the suspension as “another sorry step.”
“Debate is healthy in every society,” he said in a tweet posted Monday.
The Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) suspended 54 lawyers late Sunday, declaring that the petition they had submitted to the top court was an “unlawful” document. The department stated that the lawyers were in violation of the Judicature Act, lawyers’ pledge, regulations to prevent contempt of court, and the regulations of the Supreme Court, thus resulting in their indefinite suspension.
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