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Maldives Chief Justice defended email to the editors 21 March 2003 Mohamed Rasheed Ibrahim Chief Justice of Maldives This is to express my deep distrust and concern over the manner in which your website highlights certain issues regarding the Maldives and the Maldivians. I feel that if you claim to be a group devoted to the cause of Maldives, you should not be prejudiced and biased when you do your work. President Gayyoom In a recent article you have certainly defamed and used innuendo to assassinate the character of the chief justice of the Maldives. Though as you claimed, he has allowed the legal system to be manipulated by the President, he may have little role to play when it comes to the reforms and and interpretations of laws of the Maldives. Based on the constitutional system of governance that we have in Maldives, the head of the judiciary is the President and therefore it is not possible for the chief justice, even if he wishes, to play the role that other chief justice's perform in other countries. On another level, he is holding a post which, though it symbolises power, does not in reality allow such a role. Any lawyer in the country could tell you that, for a fact. This is because, in practice, legal things are finally settled by the Office of the President. For example, the constitution says the High Court of the Maldives is the highest court of the country, but decisions of the High Court can be petitioned to a committee which sits in the Office of the President. Thus, it demonstrates to us that at the judicial level, the chief justice may not have the ultimate say. Besides, he is a person with a religious scholarship and is considered to be a great jurist in Muslim law, but unlike the attorney-general Dr. Munavvar, the chief justice lacks legal background. Attorney-general Dr Munavvar In this regard, I feel that you may have been better to criticize Dr. Munavvar who has the power as the attorney-general of the country and legal knowledge. He has grossly betrayed the people of the Maldives and the legal community of the country. Since he come to the post of attorney-general there has been little done to improve the legal system, and unlike the chief justice, his views are accepted by the government. But he has no interest in doing any good to the country or to the legal system and often displays hypocrisy by privately divulging something which he will contradict in his official capacity. Therefore if there is laughing joke, it may be the attorney-general, not the chief justice. As for your websites attack on the chief justice, I think it is purely because you are motivated by a personal agenda to attack the religious personalities of the Maldives, and not to highlight real issues that may be of concern to an audience. As an organisation interested in justice and fairness I hope if you have the courage to publish this comment. top

A sermon from the chief justice The seven loved by Allah Ibrahim Luthfee's letter to the attorney-general Dr Munavvar No Legal Weight Ibrahim Luthfee's letter to the president 'In the absence of a valid legal system, or failure to enforce the existing law, the justice system is destroyed' The Constitution of the Maldives "A Structure Built on Loose Sand" Hiding behind old Arab law and fake traditions to keep Maldives women down

Maldives Culture is an independent internet magazine of Maldivian cultural issues.
Editors and translators: Michael O'Shea and Fareesha Abdulla, Australia
We invite contributions from Maldivians and others interested in Maldives.
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