The Judiciary in the Maldives has been a systematic institution throughout the history of the nation. It has always been an institution which is under the full control of the Head of State and is still to some degree. However a radical change occurred during the past decades, the introduction of the English legal system into the country; a result of the Maldivian society coming in close contact with the outside world. Consequently, the present legal system of the country is a mixture of not only Shari’ah and customs, but the English legal system also.
Pre-Islamic history
According to Allama Ahmed Shihabuddine of Meedhoo, the son of Addu Bodu Fandiyaaru Thakurufaanu, the first inhabitants of the Maldives, the Dheyvis, came here around 4th century B.C. and had a leader whom they called Sawamia. The Sawamia was the religious leader of these people. They thought that this Sawamia was an agent of God and hence, in their social organisation he held absolute power of life and death over the people. He was the authority on their affairs. All disputes and conflicts, whether between two government officials, or a government official and a common person, or between two common people, were decided by the Sawamia.
According to Isdhoo Loamaafaanu, a historical document of the Maldives written in 1195 A.C., there was a set of customs implemented as law in the country when Islam came in 1153 A.C. This set of customs was known as poorube roodin.
Within a century after the colonization of the Maldives by the Dheyvis, another wave of travellers came from India and started to occupy the country with the former. The merger of these two people lead to a development of a new society and finally gave rise to an authoritative monarchy. That is the time when the dictations of the King started to absolute; the main source of law in the country.
Islamic history
Islam became the official religion of the state of the Maldives with the conversion of King Theemuge Mahaakalaminjaa into the imported faith in 1153 A.D. As mentioned before the earliest documentary evidence of the Maldivian history of this period is the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu. This document refers to a "" and an "". It can be easily concluded that the present noun given to a judge in the Dhivehi language, "" is an evolved version of ‘padiyaaru. It can also be argued that the Dhivehi noun for Supreme Judge, "" is a developed version of "".
The ", the judge, was an esteemed and respected leader of the society. This can be understood from the references in the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu. ‘Handhaanaai Thaareekhah Takai Dhivehi Raajje’ has the following words to say, “the nobles listed as testifiers in the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu were people of high caste in the society. The powerfulness of the judges can be understood from an incident recorded in the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu. According to this report the judges issued orders for some Buddhist monks of Isdhoo to be brought to Male’ and beheaded. The orders also included a commandment to demolish a monastery in the same island. According to the report these orders were executed as directed by the judges.
The reports in the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu also indicate that the judges did not meddle with other political affairs of the state. This fact does not mean that the judiciary was an independent institution in the political organization of the Maldives. But the institution involved in the administration of justice was a completely specialized institution, with the judges concerned only about their task as judicial officials. The same document also refers to an official called ‘dhandanaayaka’ who was responsible for “implementing and executing the judgments and decisions of the judges.”
The above references show that during the first century of the Islamic era of the Maldives, there were judges who were specialized in administering justice and that there were special officials who were responsible for implementing the judgments of them. The judiciary of the Maldives was a separate institution in the political organization of the country.
As aforementioned, according to the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu, a set of customs called ‘poorube roodin’ was implemented as law in the country before the coming of Islam. From the same source and later historical records it is clear that after Islam the Islamic Shari’ah gradually became the main source of laws in the country. However, many years after Islam, the ‘poorube roodin’ still played an important part in the judicial system. Historical sources also say that the king was himself an authority. His decrees were treated as law and were implemented through the judicial system. During the first century after Islam the judiciary, therefore, underwent a radical change, with a completely alien system of law being introduced. The years which followed saw the operation of three main sources of law in the country, namely, the Islamic Shari’ah, the decrees of the King and customs.
Since Islamic Shari’ah was introduced gradually, it caused the rules of Shari’ah to be altered by local customs. The Islamic Shari’ah was never implemented in the country in its complete and pure form. One example is in the dress code of the Maldivian women. Although the Shari’ah has specific commandments on this matter, accounts of Historians like Ibn Batuta, and François Pyrard show that these commandments were not implemented in medieval times. As for the duties of the judges, they were required to be thorough with both the Shari’ah laws and also the ‘poorube roodin.’ “Therefore,...the judge in the country was a scholar of not only Islamic law. He was also well versed in the customs and traditions of the Maldivian society.”
While writing about the history of the Maldives during the period of Ninth-Twelfth centuries, H. C. P. Bell quotes from the famous Arab traveler-geologist Al Idrisi (1099–1186), “His (the King's) wife administers justice…”
Was the queen the highest authority of administering justice from the beginning of political organization? After Islam did the queen rise to that position in the political arena of the country? Did that particular queen have an extraordinary influence on the administration of the state? There is not enough evidence to make a conclusion on this point. What is known is that no mention is made of a queen being the highest authority in administering justice in the country in any other document or in folk evidence.
The great traveler Abu Abdullah Muhammad, commonly called ‘Ibn Batuta’, visited the Maldives in 1343 A.C. In his records he writes as follows: “They call the judge by the name of ‘fandiyaaru kaloa.” They go to the ‘fandiyaaru kaloa’ to settle all their disputes. He is the most highly esteemed and respected person among them. His orders were like the decrees of the King himself, or even stronger. He sits on a special carpet in the palace while hearing cases. He would own three islands, and the income generated by these islands would be his income.”
From the above quotation it can be understood how powerful the judge was in the political organisation of the country. This conclusion is further strengthened by the following statements: “When I married this lady (the daughter of Suleimaan Meynaa Wazeer), the Wazeer forced me to become the Judge. … There are no(t as) many big conflicts in this country as we have in our lands. The first evil custom which I abolished as a judge was the custom of women remaining with their husbands after they had been divorced. … I completely uprooted this custom.”
Besides this account, Ibn Batuta also tells us about certain unislamic customs that he abolished by issuing rulings. We can assume that these judicial rulings should have been implemented by the ‘dhandanaayaka’ or some other officials who were in charge of implementing such rulings.
Ibn Batuta had written reports about the procedure of trial also. “If two people are to be brought before the judge, they would be ordered to do so in writing. When this order was issued the parties should present themselves before the judge as directed. If anyone failed to do so, he would be duly punished.” Ibn Batuta further says that if a person did not want to, or could not be present before the judge, he could send someone to represent him. If the defendant was able to use a representative to speak on his behalf, it possibly means that the practice of lawyers representing their clients was there in the Maldives during those days in some form.
According to Ibn Batuta, when the King felt that a case was to be reconsidered (perhaps on appeal) then the case would be tried again in the presence of the King and three ‘bodu beykalun’, by the Uthu Fandiyaaru (perhaps the Supreme Judge) and a ‘Bodu Naaibu’ or a Qaadhi. This report makes it clear that there was a kind of an appeal system also.
The main points of note from the accounts of Ibn Batuta: The judge was independent to issue verdicts of disputes as he deemed fit, and the only authority that could challenge his decision was the king. The procedure involved in hearings was systematic. The parties involved in a conflict might use a representative to speak before the judge on behalf of him. A case might be appealed in some situations.
The judicial system of the Maldives was developing and evolving. It may be incorrect to say that the system was a highly efficient system during this time. But then, the reason was that the Maldivian society was lacking a proper education system and an efficient social structure. Also, the fact that the population was divided between a number of islands, with each island having a group of few hundred people was a significant factor. As a proverb says, necessity is the mother of invention, and there was never a necessity for a highly complex and comprehensive judicial system to evolve. Some people may argue that the political supremacy of the monarchy also prevented a judicial system to developing into a highly efficient and independent political body.
François Pyrard, another foreign writer who has given considerable accounts of the Maldivian judiciary came to the country in 1602 A.C., about four centuries after Ibn Batuta. Unlike Ibn Batuta, Pyrard shed light on the judicial operations in the atolls also. He says that “each atoll is a separate province. The person in charge of each atoll is called a ‘Bodu Naa’ibu’. These Bodu Naa’ibs are the leaders of the provinces. He is responsible for implementing the religious laws. He has an obligation to manage the education system as well as the legal affairs. And he is over the other Naa’ibs in the province. “Since the Naa’ib is the absolute dictator over his province, he is responsible for deciding both criminal and civil matters. If someone wants to file a case he has to meet the Naa’ib.”
The following paragraph may be a very comprehensive description of the hierarchy of the Maldivian judiciary during the time of Pyrard. He says; “There are no judges in the Maldives. Except for Male, the laws and religious hukm are implemented in the islands by the aforementioned 13 Naa’ibs, Katheeb (a chief who run the administrative affairs of each island) and Mudims (Imams who are managing the mosques). There is a leader who is above these officials in Male. This person would always be someone very close to the King. He is known as ‘fandiyaaraa.’ He is the royal judge. If a person is not happy with a decision made by a Naa’ib in an atoll, he has the right to appeal to the fandiyaaru in Male’. It is the same in both civil and criminal cases. The fandiyaaru would seek the consultation of the Naa’ibs when deciding the case. … a person may appeal to the King also, if he is not satisfied with the decision of the fandiyaaru. Such cases would be considered by the ‘ha beykalun’ (six nobles who are regarded as the closest advisors of the King”).