By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, November 1: Backed by substantial foreign budgetary assistance, Maldivian President Dr.Mohamed Muizzu has announced sweeping administrative and judicial reforms.
The Maldivian budget for 2025 is for MVR 2.5 billion (US$ 168 million). MVR 2.3 billion (US$ 149.8 million) is expected to be received from friendly countries with India accounting for US$ 104 million of it.
Backed financially by friendly countries and international institutions and facing no geopolitical tensions, President Muizzu has declared a commitment to rectifying the missteps of previous administrations, a top official said.
“The aim is to restore public trust besides improving the lives of Maldivians across the 1200 island Indian Ocean archipelago,” the official said.
Dr. Muizzu identified several critical areas that had suffered neglect. To restore economic stability, he is mulling stimulants to growth, reduction in unemployment, and encouraging foreign investment. He plans to expand access to essential services, improving hospital infrastructure, and introduce programs aimed at reducing healthcare costs for citizens. “No one should have to choose between financial stability and their health,” the President stated.
Recognizing the importance of education in fostering national development, Dr. Muizzu has proposed increasing the funding for schools, improving teacher training, and enhancing curriculum standards.
Seeking to rectify past negligence towards environmental degradation, the President intends to implement policies aimed at promoting renewable energy sources and addressing the impact of climate change.
To foster a culture of transparency and accountability, Dr. Muizzu has pledged to hold regular public forums and encourage citizen participation in the legislative process.
But political divisions stand in the way of reform. Doubting Thomases in the opposition Maldivian Democratic Parrty (MDP) express concern over the feasibility of his initiatives, particularly regarding budgetary implications and potential resistance from established political factions.
Anti-Graft Task Force
The President is to appoint a Special Anti-Corruption Task Force to lead the charge against corruption, as corruption adversely affects society. The special task force will comprise members from law enforcement, judiciary, and financial oversight agencies. It will be charged with investigating and prosecuting corruption cases swiftly and fairly, ensuring accountability for all, including public officials and private entities, involved in misconduct.
Another pillar of the President’s pledge involves strengthening the Maldives’ Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Through increased funding, enhanced legislative powers, and advanced training, the ACC will be better equipped to carry out its mandate.
Dr. Muizzu has plans to collaborate with international bodies to incorporate best practices, aiming to align Maldives’ policies with global standards.
In a message on X, the President further said: “The government is to table amendments to the Penal Code this coming week to investigate corruption and unjust enrichment within State agencies and eliminate the challenges of prosecution.”
“Accordingly, the amendment to Sec.515 of the Cr.PC will make it easier for the President, Ministers, Members of Parliament, judges, public servants and former public servants, to investigate cases of unjust enrichment sought or obtained.”
Public sector reforms, such as mandatory asset declarations for government officials and rigorous conflict-of-interest guidelines, were highlighted by him as crucial steps in the campaign.
Public support has been visible across social media platforms, where citizens are hopeful this will mark a turning point in Maldivian governance.
Prolonged Imprisonment
In regard to the judiciary, President Muizzu has resolved to abolish “indefinite imprisonment” among other plans. Indefinite detention—often associated with prolonged pre-trial custody and delays in legal proceedings—have been a source of criticism from human rights organizations both at home and abroad. The government aims to ensure that detention is applied judiciously and in strict accordance with the rule of law.
Among the proposed reforms are initiatives to expand access to legal aid, improve detention facilities, and provide more robust rehabilitation programs for offenders.
Furthermore, measures are being discussed to ensure that judicial processes are more transparent, allowing the public to have a greater insight into the workings of the criminal justice system.
The government is reportedly exploring legislative amendments that would strengthen the independence of the judiciary and allow for more effective checks and balances. In a recent statement, President Muizzu highlighted the need for a judiciary that operates free from external influences.
However, experts warn of the challenges inherent in overhauling deeply entrenched legal structures, stressing the need for sustained political will and public support.
Rehabilitative Justice
In December 2023, the Muizzu Administration declared that rehabilitation of offenders and their successful social reintegration would be an objective of the criminal justice systems and correctional services.
Although rehabilitation and reintegration (R&R) have been part of the legislation in Maldives, achieving a well-structured and functioning R&R of convicted prisoners, as well as of persons with substance use disorders into the society, has faced several obstacles and challenges.
In 2016, Maldives Correctional Service (MCS) introduced a four-phase model Rehabilitation Framework to guide its R&R work through a specialized command. But the R&R framework had not been implemented in all prisons due to various challenges such as the lack of appropriate facilities, lack of resources and specialized staff and due to the need for improved skills, including greater understanding and application of human rights through R&R, adoption of tools to apply individualized sentence planning among its current R&R staff.
Building on the recommendations and findings of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) R&R (rehabilitation and reintegration) Assessment in 2023, UNODC’s Global Maritime Crime Programme established a series of training programmes to uplift the knowledge and skills of the R&R practitioners in the Maldives Correctional Service (MCC).
Nearly 70 R&R practitioners, including 16 female officers, from the Maldives Correctional Service were trained on the R&R strategies. During these training sessions, the participants got the opportunity to delve deep into the concepts such as the effective utilization of the RNR (Risk, Needs and Responsivity) Model, Risk Assessment Tools, sentence planning, techniques of Motivational Interviewing (MI) and the significance of sentence planning, with the guidance of the UNODC GMCP’s international prison expert.
This would enable the Maldives Correctional Service to make its R&R framework more inclusive with special attention to the factors such as age and gender as well as vulnerable groups such as the juveniles, female offenders, substance use offenders and Violent Extremist Prisoners (VEPs) and align itself with the international standards.
Such wholesome R&R interventions would not only dissuade offenders from subscription to violent extremist ideologies but also reduce recidivism which is the tendency of a convicted criminal to commit an offense again.
The UNODC GMCP intends to promote a community-based, whole-of-society approach to R&R in the Maldives by strengthening collaboration with private sector entities, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and civil society.
Flaws to be Addressed
An UNHRC team observed in 2019 that there were “significant shortcomings in the investigative processes in the country, which often lacked the capacity to objectively establish the facts, identify causal chains and determine legal responsibilities with sufficient reliability as required by fundamental principles of justice and the rule of law.
The team urged the Maldivian Government to: (a) remove from its legislation any potential legal justification for torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; (b) reverse the amendments made to the Prisons and Paroles Acts which further limited the rights of a person deprived of their liberty in contravention to international law; (c) completely abolish all forms of corporal punishment as well as the death penalty.
In 2009, Amnesty International said that at least 180 people faced being flogged in the Maldives as a punishment for extra marital sex. The vast majority of those who were flogged in the Maldives were women, even though both men and women could be sentenced to flogging. Department of Judicial Administration data showed that from a total of 184 people sentenced to flogging in 2006, 146 were women.
END
