New building inaugurated in Hulhumalé for Criminal, Drug Courts
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu opened the facility, which is located in front of Tree Top Hospital, following nearly two and a half years of construction work.
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A new facility named the Justice Building Annex was officially inaugurated today in Hulhumalé to house the Criminal Court and the Drug Court. The inauguration follows the deterioration and disuse of the previous court buildings in Malé.
President Dr Mohamed Muizzu opened the facility, which is located in front of Tree Top Hospital, following nearly two and a half years of construction work.
Chief Judicial Administrator Amjad Musthafa, Attorney General Ahmed Usham, and Acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice Abdulla Hameed attended the ceremony. Usham and Hameed jointly hoisted the national flag and the judiciary flag at the new complex.
Speaking at the event, Amjad said the longstanding space constraints faced by the Criminal Court and the Drug Court have now been resolved. He stated that case delays linked to inadequate infrastructure would be addressed with the operation of the new building.
According to Amjad, the new facility includes the following:
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All sections of the Criminal Court and the Drug Court will be relocated to the new building.
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The building features 10 courtrooms for 11 sections of the Criminal Court.
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It includes 5 courtrooms for the Drug Court.
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A total of 17 chambers are allocated for judges from both courts.
The previous buildings used for the Criminal Court—two former STO buildings in Majeedhee Magu—had become unusable. In 2017, an assessment by Gedo Pvt Ltd found them unsafe. The courtrooms would frequently flood during rain, damaging equipment. The four-storey structure was officially vacated in 2019.
Since then, the Criminal Court operated in a temporary arrangement with five sections based in the Uppsala Division of the Civil Court and the remaining six in another building in Malé.
The Justice Building Annex is intended to consolidate the functions of both courts under one roof with improved operational capacity.
