Commitment Tracker

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.

A stringent mechanism to evaluate the quality of legal aid services provided has not been established.

No data on the technical expertise, training and sensitisation to legal aid lawyers, provided by the Legal Aid Entity during the NSAP period. The Bar Council of the Maldives (BCM), listed as ‘other implementing agency’ [NSAP 2019-2023], conducted technical expertise training and sensitisation to legal aid lawyers. Between 2020 and 2022, BCM conducted several workshops with the Max Planck Foundation for Rule of Law and International Peace. The Attorney General’s Office (AGO), Maldives Police Service (MPS), Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services (MoGFSS), and other Government stakeholders and leading civil society groups partnered with the BCM to deliver the training and sensitisation workshops.

AGO has been working on a draft legal aid bill since 2019. The draft is currently undergoing internal reviews to identify best models to suit the existing legal aid system in the Maldives. Draft for review and stakeholder feedback is yet to be circulated.