United Nations experts on Thursday, November 12, condemned the Somali government's dismissal of Chief Justice Bashe Yusuf Ahmed and called for respect for judicial independence and the rule of law, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said.

Source: OHCHR, Nov 12, 2026

This is a new development in the crisis that began with the Supreme Court's November 5 ruling. That earlier ruling held that the president's and parliament's terms had expired and ordered elections within 90 days. Read the earlier story: Somalia court rules president's term expired, orders elections in 90 days

The experts said Ahmed was removed by presidential decree on November 4, the night before the Supreme Court was due to rule on the constitutionality of measures extending the terms of the president and parliament from four years to five. On November 7, a ceremony swore in Ibrahim Idle Suleiman as his purported replacement.

Five judges heard the case anyway on November 5. They ruled the extensions were unlawful, that the terms of both parliament and President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had expired — parliament's on April 14 and the president's on May 15, according to accounts of the ruling — and ordered elections within 90 days, with political leaders to agree an electoral framework within 30 days. The judges also declared the chief justice's dismissal unconstitutional and said it had sought to obstruct the court's work.

Government has not complied, experts say

According to the UN experts' statement, the government ignored the ruling and withdrew protection from seven judges. Somalia's attorney general, Sulayman Mohamed, has said the ruling had 'no legal effect', according to Somali reporting, and the government maintains the March amendments allow the president and lawmakers to serve into 2027. The electoral commission has set April 15, 2027 for parliamentary elections and May 15 for the presidential vote.

The Uganda Law Society had already urged Somalia on November 10 to respect the court ruling on the presidential term, warning the crisis could deepen if the judgment was defied.

What happens next is a direct test of the ruling: whether Ahmed is reinstated, whether the judges' protection is restored, and whether Mogadishu moves toward the court's 90-day election order or sticks to its 2027 timetable.