The Parliament has passed a bill amending the Courts Act to reduce the size of the Maldives' Supreme Court bench.

The bill, proposed by Hoarafushi constituency representative Abdul Sattar Mohamed of the PNC, argues that realising the full potential of the Constitution requires restructuring the Supreme Court's composition.

The amendment proposes that the Supreme Court bench should consist of five judges including the Chief Justice, with the total number of judges being an odd number.

The Parliament's Judiciary Committee made no changes to the bill during its review.

Due to technical issues during today's Parliamentary session, the committee report was voted on by questioning individual members. According to the results, the bill passed with 68 votes in favour and 9 against.

Under the Constitution, the first transitional Supreme Court consisted of five judges. Later in 2010, a permanent Supreme Court with seven judges was established. In 2014, through another constitutional amendment, the number was reduced to five. Then in 2019, the Supreme Court bench was again increased to seven.

The proposal to reduce the Supreme Court bench from 7 to 5 judges involves removing two current justices from their positions. According to the amendment, these judges will be removed if the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) determines they are unqualified for the position and submits this recommendation to Parliament for approval.

The amendment requires that the names of judges to be removed must be submitted to Parliament within 5 days of the amendment taking effect. Parliament must then make its decision within 7 days.