Nasheed's dossier on Judiciary Reform

The Maldives’ first, democratic Constitution was enacted in 2008. The Constitution has enabled the country to make substantial progress in consolidating democracy and safeguarding the fundamental human rights of its citizens. The Maldives held free and fair, multi-party elections for the president (2008), parliament (2009) and local councils (2011). Since the 2008 elections, the country has made good progress in media freedoms, has allowed space for a strong and vibrant civil society to grow, and has established new social protection programmes, creating a social safety net for all Maldivians.
  
However, opposition parties associated with the former regime have used their majority in parliament (the People’s Majlis), to ensure that the judiciary has remained largely unchanged. The judiciary, in practice, continues to operate in accordance with old laws and customs, and most of today’s sitting judges were handpicked by former President Gayoom before the enactment of the 2008 Constitution.  

The Government of Maldives contends that the Maldivian judiciary is, in effect, systematically corrupt because its decisions are unduly influenced by members of the former regime. Moreover, the government contends that all the lower court judges (judges excluding the Supreme Court and Higher Court) were sworn in against the letter and spirit of the Constitution. As such, judges are often grossly under-qualified, have previous criminal convictions, and are of dubious moral character.  read more (pdf)