President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has ratified the 3rd amendment to the Legal Profession Act (5/2019). The bill was passed on the 32nd sitting of the second session of the Parliament on Thursday, 22nd August 2024.
The bill mandates that the members of the Executive Committee of the Bar Council, namely the President, Vice President, and Members, are elected from lawyers, rather than having the Attorney General sit in the Executive Committee, as specified in clause 6 (c) of the old law.
As such, the new amendment has increased the number of elected lawyers from six to seven and struck all the references made in the law to the Attorney General. As such, the amendment states the additional member needs to be elected within a period of 60 days, from the ratification of the law.
Additionally, the amendment also designates diplomatic missions as public notaries, eligible to act as certifiers for documentation issued by authorities, registered educational institutions and any other similar documentation required by Maldivians living abroad.
The 3rd amendment to the Legal Profession Act (5/2019) has now been published in the Government Gazette, following the President’s ratification on Tuesday. The amendment comes into effect from Tuesday onward.
