In 2021 I conducted a Judicial Training Needs Assessment in Maldives that has been the basis for reform of judicial training.
The recommendations highlighted the need to increase access to resources for judges to equip them with adequate knowledge and training – key to ensuring quality judgments are passed and justice is administered fairly.
Building on the needs assessment, interventions focused on equipping judges with adequate training and knowledge including awareness of gender equality and women’s rights and dealing appropriately with sexual and gender-based violence. These initiatives facilitated a push for a change regarding patriarchal and discriminatory attitudes and practices in order to make access to justice a reality for women in the Maldives.
A focus was on identified thematic areas and newly enacted laws to enhance the legal and judicial knowledge and capacity of judges and the judiciary.