Maldives Employment Tribunal amends filing deadlines in third regulation amendment

The Employment Tribunal of the Maldives has rewritten the deadlines that parties must meet when filing case documents and replies, under the Third Amendment to the Employment Tribunal Regulation (2022/R-14). The amendment was published as regulation number 2026/R-88 in the Government Gazette of the Maldives on 29 September 2026, corresponding to 18 Rabi’ al-Akhir 1448, in issue number 156 of volume 55. It applies from the date of publication in the Gazette.

The Employment Tribunal Regulation (2022/R-14) governs procedure before the tribunal, the body that hears employment disputes in the Maldives. The regulation is issued from the tribunal’s seat in Malé, and the gazette that carries it is published by the President’s Office.

The third amendment is confined to article 33, the article that fixes the time limits for filing case documents and replies. Four clauses of article 33 are amended and eight further clauses are deleted, leaving the article operating on the reduced set of provisions set out in the amendment.

New rules on deadlines and extensions

The amended article 33 sets out how the periods for filing case documents and the reply form are handled, and how a party may seek more time:

• A party seeking more time to file case documents and the reply form must make the request in writing, with reasons.
• The request must be made before the deadline for filing the reply expires.
• The decision rests with the bench hearing the case, which may grant an extension where it finds the reason acceptable.
• The tribunal must inform the parties in writing of the outcome.

Failure to file and absent parties

The amendment also deals with the consequences of a party failing to file within the period fixed under article 33:

• The tribunal may order the party to submit the documents within a period it determines.
• If the party still fails to file, the case proceeds on the basis of the statements and records already before the tribunal.
• The tribunal may decide the case in the absence of the party that failed to file.

Scope of the change

The amendment is the third to the Employment Tribunal Regulation (2022/R-14) and leaves the rest of the regulation untouched. The deleted clauses are removed outright rather than replaced, so article 33 now rests on the amended clauses and the remaining provisions. The regulation states that the Employment Tribunal Regulation is to be applied from the date this amendment is published in the Government Gazette of the Maldives, so the new timetable binds parties from 29 September 2026. The document is issued in the name of the Employment Tribunal, Malé, Republic of Maldives.

For employers, workers and their representatives, the practical effect is a tighter and more explicit timetable before the Employment Tribunal: extensions must be requested in writing and in advance, and a party that stays silent risks having the case decided on the other side’s submissions or in its absence. Litigants preparing a reply should treat the deadline set by the tribunal as the operative date and file any extension request before it passes.

Source: Gazette of the Government of Maldives, issue 156, 29 September 2026, Section I, p. 3–4 (official reference: 2026/R-88).