President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih ratified on Sunday the second amendment to the Legal Profession Act (Act No. 5/2019). Parliament passed the bill on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, at the 24th sitting of its third session this year.
The bill stipulates revisions to the rules governing disciplinary proceedings carried out by the Bar Council of the Maldives, the guidelines on formulating the council’s budget and spending, and the mandatory training for lawyer licence applicants. Sections 31(d), (e), and 31-1(e) are repealed, and a new section is added to the Act under Section 53.
The revisions in the bill also allow provisionally licensed lawyers to apply for permanent permits without sitting the bar exam.
Upon ratification, the bill was published in the Government Gazette.