Who is new CJP Justice Qazi Faez Isa? Justice Qazi Faez Isa has taken the oath as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan, marking a historic judicial change.
The outgoing Chief Justice, Umar Ata Bandial, recently abandoned his official apartment in Islamabad’s Judges Colony. Bandial had been in the highest judicial post for more than 19 months, having been appointed on February 2, 2022.
Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s term as Chief Justice will last more than a year, ending on October 25, 2024.
On September 5, 2014, he was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge.
Also read: Licenses of protesting lawyers should be revoked: Justice Qazi Faez Isa
After outgoing Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Isa is the supreme court’s senior most justice.
Notably, after Iftikhar Chaudhary, Justice Isa will be the second CJP from Balochistan.
During his tenure, he was widely recognised for his key role in presided over significant cases. His participation in the Memogate Commission, the Quetta Tragedy Inquiry Commission, and the Faizabad Dharna Decision are among his important decisions.
Justice Isa will step down as Chief Justice of Pakistan on October 25, 2024, after a 13-month tenure.
Who is new CJP Justice Qazi Faez Isa?
Justice Isa was born in Quetta on October 26, 1959.
His father, Qazi Muhammad Isa, was a key figure in the Pakistan establishment movement and a close ally of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Justice Isa had his primary education at Quetta and his secondary studies at Karachi Grammar School. He subsequently moved to London to study law and pass the bar professional examination.
On January 30, 1985, Justice Isa was admitted as an attorney in the Balochistan High Court (BHC), and in March 1998, he was admitted as an advocate in the Supreme Court (SC).
He practised law for nearly 27 years in the BHC and the SC before being named Chief Justice of the BHC in 2009.
The judge was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2014 after serving as Chief Justice of the High Court from 2009 to 2014.
Following the country’s proclamation of a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, the judge reached a principled judgement.
He chose not to appear before judges he believed had broken their oath of office.
During the same time period, the Supreme Court overturned the November 3 ruling, and the BHC’s judges resigned in protest.
On August 5, 2009, Justice Isa was appointed as a judge and then as Chief Justice of the BHC.
Following that, on September 5, 2014, he took the oath of office as a Supreme Court justice.
Justice Isa has recently come to the fore as a result of his protest against the non-implementation of the Supreme Court Practise and Procedure Act, which was enacted during the Shahbaz Sharif regime.
As a protest, he has not heard any cases for the past five months and has instead worked in his chambers.
