other important bills including Evidence Act, Criminal Procedure Code, Civil Procedure Code, Right to Information Bill, Witness Protection Act and Bill on Anti‐Torture is still pending in the parliament. There is no legislation that defines discrimination. The only significant improvement in the area of legislation since HRCM submitted its document for list of issues for Committee on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) in 2011 is the enactment of Domestic Violence Act (DV Act) on April 23, 2012. The DV Act is an important step towards gender equality and non‐discrimination in the Maldives. 84. The state should prioritize passing important legislations that are pending in the parliament which are crucial for delivery of justice fairly, consistently and efficiently. 85. Often the judiciary is being subjected to inappropriate interference with the judicial process compromising its ability to exercise its professional responsibilities with independence. Furthermore, individual judges and judicial process are being publicly criticized by both the executive and legislature which has an intimidating effect on them. Judges are concerned over Maldivian media criticizing the judiciary without verifying the information they get, which they believe, would lead to people having misconceptions about the judiciary. Below are some known incidences of interference of the executive and the legislature with the judiciary. a) On January 16, 2012, Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) arrested and detained Chief Judge of Criminal Court on the orders of President and the Minister of Defense and National Security, ignoring the Criminal Court, High Court and the Supreme Court orders to release the judge. The Chief Judge was kept in secret detention at a military training base and his whereabouts had been concealed to the family for nearly 48 hours. The Judge was under military custody till February 7, 2012. b) On August 2, 2010, by the request of the President, Police surrounded the Judicial Services Commission (JSC), blocking any member or its staff from entering the commission. It was reportedly done to prevent the reappointment of 160 judges before the August 7thdeadline when the commission revealed that 160 sitting judges have been made permanent after amending the criteria. The Police Integrity Commission ultimately concluded that the Maldives Police Service was negligent in cordoning off the JSC in this manner.35 c) On August 7, 2010, the President unilaterally declared the Supreme Court bench defunct. He issued a decree appointing a four member temporary appellate bench to oversee administrative aspects of the Supreme Court.36 Chapter: Article 14: Equality before the Law & Article 26: Legal Protection of the Law Interference and Influence 41