Can challenge source disclosure in court, Shamsul Falah says
The President's Office said the government is considering amending the Evidence Bill to facilitate journalists.
Dr Shamsul Falah, a judicial expert who studies the Maldives Constitution, has said that the court can overturn the provision in the Evidence Act that makes it mandatory for journalists to disclose their sources.
He was speaking as the keynote speaker at the 'Constitutional Promises and Realities' session organised by the Maldives National University (MNU), Villa College and the Bar Council on Tuesday.
Shamsul Falah, who had earlier served as Legal Adviser to the Office of the President, expressed his own views, saying that the enactment of the Evidence Act to make disclosure of source mandatory does not seem to reflect the spirit of the standard laid down in Article 16 of the Constitution.
At the same time, he pointed out that the constitution also guarantees what can be done next in connection with the law that makes disclosure of sources mandatory.
"For example, if the government does so, you can even go to court over the article, as a constitutional issue. You can go and ask for it to be repealed, if it is unconstitutional," he said.
Article 16 of the Constitution on the Guarantee of Rights states:
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Any measure of any right or freedom enshrined in Part II of the Constitution, including freedom of speech and press, can be restricted by laws passed by Parliament in a manner that does not conflict with the Constitution.
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Even a law can restrict that freedom to the extent that such a right or liberty can be curtailed in a free democratic society
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If any measure of that right or liberty is withheld, it is the duty of the State or the person who has taken it up to prove that it has been done in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
On July 18, 2022, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified the Evidence Bill passed by mdp's super-majority parliament to force journalists to disclose their contents.
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The law came into force in January 2023
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Upon media outlets and the public expressing concern over it, the MDP proposed amendments to the source provision of the Act
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However, when the Parliament's Judiciary Committee completed the bill and sent it back to the floor, the Parliament, which had a MDP majority, sent the bill back to the standing committee
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The main reason why Maldives fell six places in the journalism index released by Reporters Without Borders on this year's International Press Freedom Day is that journalists here are now forced to disclose their sources
The President's Office said the government is considering amending the Evidence Bill to facilitate journalists. Still stalled in parliament, President Muizzu had called for the amendment to be expedited last February as well.
However, no amendment to the Evidence Act has been proposed by this government even so far. The new parliament has not done any work on the amendments proposed to the Act in the 19th parliament.
