Mohamed Jameel Ahmed is a Maldivian lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 and politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 who served as Minister of Justice from July 2005 to August 2007, and member of the New Maldives

New Maldives

New Maldives began as a group of young ministers who supported the dictatorship of President Gayoom and claimed to be working to usher in liberal democracy to the Maldives. Its most public proponent is Ahmed Shaheed, supported by Hassan Saeed and Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who were serving as Foreign...

 group.

Political career

In July 2007, Jameel made history when he defied conservative Islamists and nominated three women judges, the first time the Maldives had admitted women to the judicial bench.

He resigned as Minster of Justice after accusing then President Gayoom of failing to take action against rising Islamic militancy and blocking progress of reforms. One month after Mr Jameel resigned, the Maldives experienced its first ever homegrown terrorism incident when young Islamic radicals blew up a homemade bomb in a public park, injuring a dozen foreign tourists.

Jameel is renowned for his public speaking talents and passion for the reform of the criminal justice system, Jameel secured the highest number of votes in the elections to the Party Executive Council, polling even more votes than President Gayoom.

After leaving government, Jameel became a co-founder of the New Maldives

New Maldives

New Maldives began as a group of young ministers who supported the dictatorship of President Gayoom and claimed to be working to usher in liberal democracy to the Maldives. Its most public proponent is Ahmed Shaheed, supported by Hassan Saeed and Mohamed Jameel Ahmed, who were serving as Foreign...

 which lead the Opposition against the incumbent 30-year old regime. After the election of President Mohamed Nasheed

Mohamed Nasheed

Mohamed Nasheed is a Maldivian politician. He is the current President of the Maldives. He is the founder of the Maldivian Democratic Party and was its presidential candidate in the October 2008 presidential election, defeating long-time President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in a second round of voting...

, Jameel served as Minister of Civil Aviation and Telecommunications from Nov. 12, 2008 to May. 30, 2009.

Personal life and education

A direct descendant of Sultan Giyasuddin, Jameel was born in Fuvamulah, in the southern part of Maldives. He was educated in law in Pakistan, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. He obtained a PhD in Criminal Law from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) - University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. This was a merit scholarship funded by the Commonwealth. Jameel is the only scholar in Maldives with a PhD from SOAS-University of London. Jameel is also a senior member of JICA

JICA

KF3 is a kart racing class for top drivers aged 12 to 15 .This class used to be called Junior Intercontinental A and has changed since January 2007 when CIK-FIA decided to replace the 100 cc air-cooled two-stroke engines with 125 cc Touch-and-Go water-cooled two-stroke...

Alumni Society of Maldives.

Jameel is married and has three children.