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Madagascar Penal System
Maldivians follow the sharia or Islamic law.
Occasionally,
the courts order convicted criminals to be flogged.
Usually,
however, punishment is limited to fines, compensatory
payment,
house arrest, imprisonment, or banishment to a remote
island. The
country's judicial system includes a High Court and eight
lesser
courts in Malé. The High Court handles politically
sensitive
cases and acts as a court of appeal. Each of the lesser
courts
deals with cases that involve debt, theft, or property
claims. On
other islands there are all-purpose courts. Maldives has
no jury
trials; Islamic law judges conduct trials, which are open
to the
public. The president appoints all judges and has the
final word
in all legal cases.
Data as of August 1994
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