K. Male'
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23 May 2017 | Tue 03:44
Supreme Court Maldives
Supreme Court Maldives
Mohamed Sharuhaan
Supreme Court of the Maldives
Supreme Court will have right to determine legitimacy of Parliament rulings: verdict
Decision arrived at by full vote of SC bench
Any decision by the Parliament has to be reviewed by SC
SC ordered Parliament to implement verdict

Supreme Court has ordered Parliament and state institutions to implement the decree which states that Supreme Court will have the right to determine the legitimacy of Parliament rulings.

The decision was arrived at by the full vote of the Supreme Court bench.

The verdict was announced after reviewing the case submitted by Attorney General’s Office, which had requested the Court to deliver a ruling on politicized no confidence motions.

The summary of the verdict states that Supreme Court was the custodian of the Constitution, laws and regulations and therefore had the legal grounds to ensure that the decisions made by the Parliament were legal and Constitutional.

Though the Attorney General’s Office case had specifically singled out the no confidence motion on Cabinet Ministers, the ruling by Supreme Court ensures that the Court had wide reaching powers over Parliament Members and any no confidence motion taken by the Parliament. Therefore, due to the verdict, it is possible that any and all no confidence motions taken on President, Vice President, Supreme Court Judges and heads of Independent Institutions are valid only with the approval of the Supreme Court.

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