Commitment Tracker

As part of the criminal justice sector institutions, the Ministry of Home Affairs [MoHA], Maldives Police Service [MPS], Prosecutor General’s Office [PGO], and the Department of Judicial Administration [DJA] are all working on databases to publish data and statistics. The Ministry of Home Affairs does not have a separate dedicated website, but has a page on Gov.mv, which provides links to the three major offices of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Maldives Police Service, Department of Juvenile Justice and Maldives Correctional Service. Courts publish information on the number and types of cases reported, and distribution of cases at various courts and at various tiers of the courts. Lethun Database of the Prosecutor General’s Office has criminal justice data and Maldives Police Service publishes data on the types of cases with the reported numbers. Institutions in the criminal justice system do not use the same terminology to define offences such as domestic violence, because of which there are issues with consistency of the information appearing on multiple State websites. No institutions periodically publish analytical data.

At the end of April 2023, a fully operational interoperable criminal justice data system, established by the Ministry of Home Affairs, with access to all relevant institutions, did not exist. In 2022, PGO introduced a databased named ‘Lethun’, which publishes various legislations, decisions of appellate courts, memos, directions, and operational procedures of the criminal justice system. PGO is also developing a consolidated criminal justice data management system and has established a dedicated unit within PGO, for data collection and management. The Department of Judicial Administration (DJA) is also developing an integrated case management system which is believed to radically improve case management at the courts.

Multiple internal rules have been established since 2019, however, harmonizing these internal rules, regulations and procedures of the courts has been problematic. Participants of the monitoring project noted that various sections and divisions of the same court follow different internal rules and procedures. A new Civil Procedure Code [CPC, Law. No.: 32/2021 (16 December 2021)] came into effect in 2022, which has introduced major changes to the civil justice system of the country. As a result of the new legislation, judges, lawyers and court officials have been focusing on creating and adjusting to the structural and process changes required by the CPC. The system is facing many delays due to lack of awareness on the new law, budget issues and adjusting to the scope of the legislation. CPC has been identified as the most challenging law to be introduced in recent times in the Maldives, requiring an overhaul of the entire system, multiple and lengthy formalities for lawyers and justice seekers, and provision of timelines which is creating further delays to access services needed. Many noted that the CPC has brought the system ‘to a halt’ and immediate attention must be given by the legislature and the judiciary, to rectify the issues. Furthermore, all internal rules, regulations and procedures of the courts must be revisited again and completed at the earliest to avoid any further disruptions to the civil justice system.

Maldives’ first extensive Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC, Law No. 12/2016) which was introduced in 2016, was amended three times during the NSAP reporting period, between 2019 and 2023. They include the second amendment to the CrPC created by Law No.: 6/2020, third amendment to the CrPC created by Law No.: 21/2020, and the fourth amendment to the CrPC created by Law No.: 21/2022. Maldives’ first extensive Civil Procedure Code [CPC, Law. No.: 32/2021 (16 December 2021)] came into effect on 16 June 2022, which has introduced major changes to the civil justice system of the country. The long-awaited Evidence Act (Law No.: 11/2022) was also enacted in 2022 (18 June 2022) and came into effect on 18 January 2023. Sufficient work on harmonizing laws relating to criminal offences have not been done during the reporting period. Moreover, with the introduction of heavy procedural legislation during the period and the efforts to harmonise newer and older laws and processes, law enforcers and legal practitioners are now identifying multiple instances of conflicting laws which has created bottlenecks in the system and needs urgent attention by the law givers.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) has not published information or reported on the review of remand cases and measures to speed-up investigations and trial of cases that have been prolonged. The Prosecutor General’s Office, listed as ‘other implementing agency’ in the NSAP 2019-2023, established a review committee in 2019 to assess all and prolonged remand cases. PGO has conducted periodic reviews of persons under arrest and prolonged remand cases, and published them in various reports (available on the PGO website).

In 2019 PGO revisited all pre-trial detention cases individually, and released all those who did not need to be in detention. In general, all pre-trial detention cases are revisited every 30 days. Sometimes its internal and sometimes they are court mandated processes. As per the established Prosecution Directive, procedures and policies, every 30 days, PGO also collects information on individuals detained by the Maldives Police Service and Maldives Correctional Service. Thus, PGO has conducted periodic reviews of persons under arrest and prolonged remand cases, and published them in various reports, available on the PGO website.

The number of prosecutors has been increased extensively to meet the PGO’s service demands. At the end of 2022, there were 122 prosecutors at the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO). This is a 205% increase from the figures published in the 2013 Report on the independence of judges and lawyers [Gabriela Knaul, UN Special Rapporteur]. PGO has also developed written guidelines and standards to develop and streamline staff capacities. PGO is increasingly providing more services and more expedited services to the island communities through these offices. PGO currently has 11 regional branches: in Haa. Dhaalu, Noonu, Baa, Raa, Lhaviyani, Thaa, Laamu, Gaafu Alif, Gaafu Dhaal, Gnaviani, and Addu Atoll. During the NSAP monitoring period, PGO established two additional branches of the office, one in. R. Dhuvaafaru and Gnaviani. Fuah Mulah, to facilitate easier access, and services of the office in the regions. Prosecutors are reported to lack the competency to work particularly with human rights, vulnerable groups, victims and witnesses, and needs training and sensitisation to provide effective prosecutorial services to such groups. Better coordination between State agencies is also needed to ensure protection to such groups throughout investigation periods, trials and post judgments.

Unified internal Prosecutorial Guidelines were established under Regulation No. 2017/R-76, however, there is no unified code of ethics for prosecutors (established by the Prosecutor General’s Office [PGO]), but some ethical principles are included in internal policies that may not be publicly available. Since the introduction of the Legal Profession Act (LPA) 2019, the Bar Council of the Maldives (BCM) has introduced the Rules of professional conduct for all licensed lawyers in the Maldives in 2021. However, the Second Amendment to the LPA 2019 (August 2022) has now removed attorneys [lawyers working at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO)] and prosecutors [lawyers working at the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO)] from the scope of the Bar Council’s Rules on Professional Conduct for Lawyers. Thus, a complete professional standard and code of ethics for prosecutors is yet to be established by the PGO.

Objective criteria for ordering investigations and prosecuting cases have not been established by the Prosecutor General’s office.

According to the Maldives Police Services [MPS], information on the right to a lawyer and right to access, is communicated by the Maldives Police Service upon each arrest. Lead and implementing agencies do not maintain data on the percentage of persons that were guaranteed ‘access to a lawyer within the first hour of arrest’. According to the stakeholders, challenges due to the country’s geography and the limitation of services outside of the greater Male’ region, makes this commitment ‘an impossibility’. Rights institutions and civil society noted that there were instances in which the State had refused or prevented access to a lawyer for an accused or detained person.