Honorable, Mahaz Ali Zahir was was born in G. Dh. Madaveli, on 31st August 1984. Mahaz attained LLB at Maldives College of Higher Education (now Maldives National University) in 2007. He completed LLM at International Islamic University (IIUM), in 2010.
On 17th August, 2007 Mahaz was acquired the license to practice law in Maldivian courts. He worked as an Assistant State Attorney at the Attorney General’s Office from 17th February 2008 to 7th September 2008. With the inception of Prosecutor General's Office in 2008 and the transference of criminal cases previously undertaken by the Attorney General's Office to Prosecutor General’s Office, he worked to prosecute criminal cases as an Assistant Public Prosecutor, at the Prosecutor General’s Office. During his tenure at Prosecutor General’s Office, he represented the State in Lower and Superior Courts, as well as taking part in drafting several prominent legislations.
With the enactment of Drug Act (Law No: 17/2011), Mahaz was appointed to the Drug Court as a Judge. At Drug Court Mahaz, played an integral role in the development of Drug Court and formulation of the regulations required by the Drug Act.
On 4th November, 2019 Mahaz was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court.
Professional Work Undertaken
- Worked as a member of a selected team of lawyers to scrutinize the constitution of Maldives 2008 and to prepare the legal opinion for rectification by the President of Maldives.
- Worked as a member of a selected team of lawyers to examine all the laws of Maldives to determine its consistency with the Constitution of Maldives.
- Drafting prosecution guideline at Prosecutor General’s Office
- Worked as a member of a special committee convened by Parliament to draft current Drug Act (Law No:17/2011)
- Taking part in drafting the following regulations and policies.
- Drug Court Regulation (Regulation No 2012-R-15)
- Regulation on Conducting Hearings in Drug Court via video conference (Regulation No 2013-R-42)
- Policy on assigning cases to judges of Drug Court
- Policy on scheduling Drug Court case hearings
- Policy on appealing decisions of Drug Court Registrar
- Policy on terminating Drug Court participants
- Drafting Criminal Procedure Regulation
Participation in conferences and seminars
- Military aw exchange programme (MILAWEX), US Pacific Command, 14th to 15th January 2009, Male’/Maldives
- Workshop on UN convention against corruption, Anti-corruption Commission, 14th to 15th June, Male’/Maldives
- Workshop on environmental laws and regulations of the Maldives, 2010
- 4th Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authority, 2nd to 5th November 2010, Macau/ China
- 60th International Association of Prosecutors Annual Conference and General Meeting, 26th to 29th of June 2011, South Korea
- 6th Forensic Science Seminar - Drug and Alcohol Evidence, Maldives Police Service, June 2011, Male’/Maldives
- Judicial Education Programme, Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, 2012, Male’/Maldives
- Juvenile Training, UNICEF, May 2012, Male’/Maldives
- Training of Trainers Seminar on Criminal Procedure, Maldives Judicial Academy, November 2017, Male’/Maldives
Papers Published
- Article 271 of the Constitution; Delegated legislations and the practices of Supreme Court, Maldives Law Review, Volume 01, Maldives Law Institute, 2013
- Brief summary on fundamental rights and duties mentioned in the Constitution, Volume 02, Maldives Law Review, Maldives Law Institute 2013
- Abolishment of the Judicial Council by Supreme Court, Maldives Law Review, Volume 03, Maldives Law institute 2013
Books Written
- 106 Questions and Answers on Drug Rehabilitation in the light of Drug Act, Maldives Law Institute, 2014
- A Guide to Drug Act, Maldives Law Institute, 2015
- Science of Addiction (a translated work), Journey NGO, 2016
- 10 steps to memorize Holy Quran (a translated work), National Centre for Holy Quran, 2016
- Witness testimony – Maldivian Cases and Islamic Principles, Maldives Law Institute, 2018