Committee approves single judge proceedings at High Court
Without the amendment, the manner in which cases are concluded will depend on the unanimity of the judgments delivered by the judges on the High Court panel.
By
Mohamed Muzayyin Nazim
Parliament's Judiciary Committee has approved amendments to the penal code to allow a single judge to deal with certain types of cases in High Court.
Since the promulgation of the existing constitution, the High Court has been hearing cases by a bench of at least three judges.
A bill submitted by Ihavandhoo MP Mohamed Shifau for amendments to the penal code on behalf of the government was passed by the Judiciary Committee on 26 October.
One of the changes the committee made to the bill was to make certain high court cases heard by even a single judge. When the government first sent the bill to parliament, it did not include notations for this amendment. The regulations added by the committee following Section 198(f), says:
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In some cases filed by the lower courts, even a single judge can rule those cases
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Such cases include appeals of a court's decision at the stage of submission before a trial in a lower court and an order passed by the court at the trial stage.
While the committee approved that even a single judge of the High Court can deal with some cases, Article 146(b) of the constitution states that High Court cases should be decided by a "council of judges consisting of an odd number of judges". Section 34 of the Courts Act provides for the same:
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In each case examined by a High Court judges panel, each judge on the panel shall pronounce his sentence separately
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The manner in which the case is concluded will depend on the unanimity of the judgments delivered by the judges on the panel
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