separate organ, and provided that the King was the highest authority in the administration of justice. This constitution provided that the judge was to be responsible for administering justice in the name of the King and also to uphold the banners of Islam in the country. No changes were brought to the structure of the judicial system until a new constitution was again declared in 1968. This constitution divided the powers of the state into three organs, namely, the President, the Cabinet of Ministers, and the Peoples’ Majilis. Here again the judiciary was not considered as a separate organ of the state. There was a separate chapter which included provisions regarding the judiciary. The first article in this chapter provided that the administration of justice would be in the hands of special officials appointed by the President. The responsibility of upholding the banners of Islam, imposed by the previous constitutions was lifted from the judiciary by this constitution. That may be a step towards a higher level of specialization of the judicial system. The amendments brought to the Constitution of 1968 did not bring any changes to the pattern of the judiciary. It is the new Constitution of 1998 which established the judiciary as a separate organ of the state of the Maldives for the first time. This is obviously a major change to the structure of the judicial system of the country. This constitution provided that there shall be a High Court in the Maldives and that the High Court would consist of a Chief Judge and a number of judges appointed by the President. It also provides that there shall be courts of law in the Maldives, the number of which would be decided by the President at his discretion, and that there shall be judges in these courts appointed by the President. This Constitution also gives the President the highest authority in the administration of justice. Based on this provision the judiciary is still under the control of the Head of the State. Therefore, judiciary is not an independent organ of the state in the Maldives. Rather, it is a specialized organ of the state, which deals only with the administration of justice. Court system during the constitutional period According to the present structure of the Maldivian judiciary, the High Court is the highest authority in the administration of justice and this institution is directly under the