Yemen Monitor/ Sana’a/ Exclusive:
The Houthi armed group on Saturday restructured the judiciary in areas under its control, just two days after announcing amendments to the judiciary law.
According to the decision, the head of the Supreme Political Council (the Houthi authority equivalent to the presidency) appointed Abdulmunem Shujauddeen as the head of the Supreme Judicial Council. Judge Abdul Samad Al-Mutawakel was appointed as the head of the Supreme Court, Abdulsalam Hassan Zeid Al-Houthi as the Attorney General, Marwan Al-Mahaqri as the head of the Judicial Inspection Authority, and Hashim Aqabat as the secretary of the Supreme Judicial Council, with membership of Alawi Aqil, Ahmed Al-Azani, and Abdulwahab Al-Mahbashi.
The group also restructured the Supreme Court, appointing five judges: Ahmed Al-Mutawakel, Abdulmalik Al-Agbari, Mohammed Al-Dilmi, Ahmed Al-Shahri, and Saad Hadi.
The Houthis also announced the appointment of Essam Abdulwahab Al-Samawi as the head of the Grievance Committee in the office of the Supreme Political Council (the presidential office).
The Arab Lawyers Union said in a statement on Saturday that the amendments “represent a serious encroachment on the independence of the judiciary.”
The Judges Club in Sana’a denounced the amendments to the judiciary, mocking the Houthi authority, describing it as a “seizing group” in Sana’a, and stating that it does not represent the will of the people and has undermined the authority of constitutional rulings and national gains.
The statement described the new Houthi judicial system as a system based on the satanic principle of “I will kill you” by destroying the constants and principles of the authority of rights, freedoms, and dignity.
The new law empowers the head of the Supreme Political Council to appoint judges from outside the judiciary whom he considers to be jurists! He also has the right to open courts without consulting the Supreme Judicial Council.
The law diminishes the constitutional powers of the Supreme Judicial Council. It prohibits the Yemeni Bar Association, undermines the legal profession, and makes licenses subject to the executive authority (the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor) as legal agents.
The Houthi government and the parliament under its control are not internationally recognized.
This annuls the gains of the judiciary from the republican system over the past decades since the end of Imamate rule in the northern governorates of Yemen.
