Judiciary, Constitutional Review, and Constitutionalism in the Maldives from 1932 to 2008

Authors

  • Ahmed Maajid Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia. Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.64306/fjdws032

Keywords:

Constitution of Maldives 2008, Constitutional judicial review , Judicial independence , Constitutionalism , Maldivian Judiciary

Abstract

The Maldives saw the promulgation of her first Constitution in 1932, and had five more Constitutions before her seventh and current Constitution came into force on 7th August 2008. A very important issue in relation to the old Constitutions is whether they ensured supremacy of the law, or government of law instead of government of men. To address this issue, this article explores the concept of constitutional judicial review as a tool of constitutionalism, and the doctrine of judicial independence as the proper venue for enforcing constitutionalism through constitutional judicial review. Such a venue was not provided by any of the first six Constitutions, as none of them provided the necessary constitutional basis for constitutionalism, independence of judiciary, and constitutional judicial review. In fact, the earlier Constitutions mostly failed to even set up a judicial department of the State in a meaningful way.

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Published

04-03-2026

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 1 (2025): IUM Journal of Laws (IUMJOL)

Section

Articles

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How to Cite

Maajid , A. . (2026). Judiciary, Constitutional Review, and Constitutionalism in the Maldives from 1932 to 2008. IUM Journal of Laws (IUMJOL), 2(1), 15-32. https://doi.org/10.64306/fjdws032