Maldives

Legal tradition

Maldives belongs to the mixed islamic and common law tradition. An Islamic legal system with substantial common-law overlay. Sharia is the basis of law and applies directly where no statute covers the matter, while modern statutes — the Penal Code of 2014, the Contract Act, the Companies Act, the Employment Act — are drafted in a common-law style, and English commercial concepts are used in the tourism and finance sectors. The 2008 Constitution created a genuine separation of powers for the first time, along with a Supreme Court and independent commissions.

How power is divided

Unitary with a decentralised layer under the Decentralisation Act 2010: 21 atolls with elected atoll councils, plus island and city councils. Councils have limited revenue-raising and service delivery functions; the geography of roughly 190 inhabited islands makes administrative decentralisation a practical necessity rather than a constitutional division of sovereignty.

Where law comes from

The Constitution of 2008

Supreme; no law contrary to a tenet of Islam may be enacted.

Sharia

Applies directly where statute is silent and constrains legislative validity.

Acts of the People's Majlis

Including the 2014 Penal Code, the first modern codification.

Regulations

Made under statutory authority and published in the Gazette.

Judicial precedent

Supreme Court rulings bind lower courts under the Judicature Act.

The legal profession

Lawyers are licensed and regulated by the Maldives Bar Council, established under the Legal Profession Act 2019 — before which licensing sat with the Attorney General's office and then the Department of Judicial Administration. A recognised law degree, the Bar examination and a period of training are required, and licences are tiered by the level of court in which the lawyer may appear.