initials
In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...
as CJP) is head of the
court system of Pakistan
The judiciary of Pakistan ( ur, پاکستان کی عدلیہ) is a hierarchical system with two classes of courts: the superior (or higher) judiciary and the subordinate (or lower) judiciary. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme ...
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
) and the chief judge of the
Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...
. The officeholder is the senior most of 17 senior justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The Federal Court of Pakistan was established by
Governor-General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Jinnah
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...
's Order in February 1948. Until 1956, the chief justice and senior justices were known by the title of 'Federal Judge', and the Federal Court of Pakistan operated out of a wing of the
Lahore High Court
The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...
, despite the federal capital's location in
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...
. The enactment of Pakistan's first constitution in March 1956 redesigned it as the 'Supreme Court of Pakistan.'
The chief justice is the
chief administrative officer
A chief administrative officer (CAO) is a top-tier executive who supervises the daily operations of an organization and is ultimately responsible for its performance.
Government and non-profit
A CAO is responsible for administrative management of ...
of the country's
court system
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordanc ...
and the highest judicial officer, ranking immediately above the
chief justice of the Federal Shariat Court
The Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan heads the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan. The Chief Justice of the Shariat Court is the second-highest judicial office in the country, after the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
The Acting ...
, and is responsible for supervising federal judicial policies, and conducting judicial business in the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
.
Nomination for the appointment of the chief justice is made by the
prime minister of Pakistan
The prime minister of Pakistan ( ur, , romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen cabinet, despite the president of Paki ...
, and final appointments are confirmed by the
president of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Presiding over the
oral arguments
Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ad ...
before the court, the chief justice has significant agenda-setting power over meetings of the Supreme Court. In modern tradition, the chief justice has the ceremonial duty of administering the
oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such ...
of the
president of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Sir Abdul Rashid. The current chief justice is
Umar Ata Bandial
Mr Umar Ata Bandial (Urdu: عمرعطا بندیال; born 17 September 1958) is a Pakistani jurist who currently serves as the 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan . His appointment as the new Chief Justice was approved by President Dr. Arif Alv ...
; incumbent since 2 February 2022.
List of chief justices
Pakistan's longest-serving chief justice was
Mohammad Haleem
Honourable Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem (Urdu: ), LL.D. ( HC), HI (1 January 1925 – 11 August 2006) was a Pakistani jurist who served as the 10th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 1981 to 1989, the longest serving Chief Justice in the his ...
for total of 3,205 days. The shortest-serving chief justice was
Muhammad Shahabuddin
Muhammad Shahabuddin (Urdu: محمد شہاب الدین) was the 3rd Chief Justice of Pakistan, serving from 3 May 1960, to 12 May 1960. He also served as the Governor of East Pakistan.
Early life
Muhammad Shahabuddin was born on 13 May 189 ...
, who died in office 9 days after taking oath.
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ; born 12 December 1948) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan over three non-consecutive terms from 29 June 2005 to 11 December 2013.
Chaudhry began practice as an advocate ...
is the only justice to have served non-consecutive terms, for a total of three terms with total of 2,480 days.
* A ''Acting''
* ± ''Recess appointment, later rejected by the Supreme Judicial Council. All decisions voided due to illegality of appointment.''
* † ''Died in office''
Muhammad Munir
Muhammad Munir (1895–1979) was the second Chief Justice of Pakistan serving from 1954 to 1960.
Background
Munir obtained his degree of master's in English Literature from Government College University Lahore, he joined Law College to earn his L. ...
Muhammad Shahabuddin
Muhammad Shahabuddin (Urdu: محمد شہاب الدین) was the 3rd Chief Justice of Pakistan, serving from 3 May 1960, to 12 May 1960. He also served as the Governor of East Pakistan.
Early life
Muhammad Shahabuddin was born on 13 May 189 ...
"
from: 13/05/1960 till: 29/02/1968 color:app text:" A. R. Cornelius"
from: 01/03/1968 till: 03/06/1968 color:app text:" S. A. Rahman"
from: 04/06/1968 till: 17/11/1968 color:app text:" Fazal Akbar"
from: 18/11/1968 till: 31/10/1975 color:app text:"
Hamoodur Rahman
Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman ( ur, ; 1 November 1910 – 20 December 1981), . , was a Pakistani Bengali jurist and an academic who served as the Chief Justice of Pakistan from 18 November 1968 until 31 October 1975.
Educated in law ...
Mohammad Haleem
Honourable Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem (Urdu: ), LL.D. ( HC), HI (1 January 1925 – 11 August 2006) was a Pakistani jurist who served as the 10th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 1981 to 1989, the longest serving Chief Justice in the his ...
Nasim Hasan Shah
Nasim Hasan Shah (Urdu: ) (15 April 1929 – 3 February 2015) was a Pakistani jurist and served as Chief Justice of Pakistan. He is best known for his role in the verdict against Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first democratically elected Prime Mini ...
Sajjad Ali Shah
Sajjad Ali Shah (born 14 August 1957) is a Pakistani jurist who has been serving as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since 15 March 2017. Previously, he served as the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court.
References
Living people
1 ...
Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui
Saeed Uz Zaman Siddiqui (Urdu: ; 1 December 1939 – 11 January 2017) (pronunciation 'sa'eed -uz- zam'an'; alternatively Saiduzzaman Siddiqui) was a Pakistani jurist and legislator of great prominence who formerly served as the 15th Chief J ...
Irshad Hasan Khan
Justice Irshad Hasan Khan (Urdu : ) (born 7 January 1937) was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 26 January 2000 to 6 January 2002.
He took his oath under PCO (Provisional Constitutional Order) which was promulgated by General P ...
Nazim Hussain Siddiqui
Nazim Hussain Siddiqui (Urdu: ; 30 June 1940 – 15 January 2022) a Pakistani jurist who served as Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, from 31 December 2003 to 29 June 2005.
Life and career
Siddiqui w ...
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ; born 12 December 1948) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan over three non-consecutive terms from 29 June 2005 to 11 December 2013.
Chaudhry began practice as an advocate ...
Rana Bhagwandas
Rana Bhagwandas (20 December 1942 – 23 February 2015) was a Pakistani jurist who served as a senior judge and acting chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (CJP). He enjoyed extremely high reputation as a judge. He remained the acting ...
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ; born 12 December 1948) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan over three non-consecutive terms from 29 June 2005 to 11 December 2013.
Chaudhry began practice as an advocate ...
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( ur, ; born 12 December 1948) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 20th Chief Justice of Pakistan over three non-consecutive terms from 29 June 2005 to 11 December 2013.
Chaudhry began practice as an advocate ...
Nasir-ul-Mulk
Nasirul Mulk ( ur, , born 17 August 1950) served as the seventh caretaker prime minister of Pakistan who previously also served as the 22nd chief justice of Pakistan. A jurist by profession, he was nominated as Chief Justice by the Pr ...
Anwar Zaheer Jamali
Anwar Zaheer Jamali ( ur, born 31 December 1951) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 24th Chief Justice of Pakistan. He remained in the Supreme Court from 3 August 2009 to 30 December 2016. He has also served as the Acting Chief Election ...
Mian Saqib Nisar
Mian Saqib Nisar ( ur, ; born 18 January 1954) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 25th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 31 December 2016 till 17 January 2019. He has previously served as the Law Secretary. He also served as a visiting prof ...
Asif Saeed Khosa
Asif Saeed Khan Khosa ( ur, ; born 21 December 1954) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 26th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 18 January 2019 to 20 December 2019. He joined the Supreme Court as a judge on 18 February 2010 and prior to that ...
Gulzar Ahmed
Gulzar Ahmed ( ur, ; born 2 February 1957) is a Pakistani jurist who served as the 27th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 21 December 2019 to 1 February 2022.
Early life and education
Ahmed's father, Noor Muhammad, was a lawyer in Karachi. Ahmed c ...
Umar Ata Bandial
Mr Umar Ata Bandial (Urdu: عمرعطا بندیال; born 17 September 1958) is a Pakistani jurist who currently serves as the 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan . His appointment as the new Chief Justice was approved by President Dr. Arif Alv ...
Qazi Faez Isa
Qazi Faez Isa ( ur, , born 26 October 1959) is a justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since 5 September 2014. Previously, he served as Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court from 5 August 2009 to 5 September 2014.
Early life and educ ...
Munib Akhtar
Munib Akhtar (born 14 December 1963) is a Pakistani jurist who serves as Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since 8 May 2018.
He is a son-in-law of former Pakistani law minister Khalid Anwer
Khalid Anwer (Urdu/ pa, ; born 4 November 1 ...
Supreme Court of Pakistan
The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( ur, ; ''Adālat-e-Uzma Pākistān'') is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Established in accordance to thePart VIIof the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate a ...
*
Pakistan Bar Council
The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) ( ur, ) was established by the Parliament in 1973 under the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act.
It is the highest elected body of lawyers in Pakistan. It has twenty two members elected from across the count ...
*
Punjab Bar Council
The Punjab Bar Council ( ur, ) is a deliberative assembly of lawyers in Punjab. It is established by Parliament of Pakistan and consists of 75 members elected from different constituencies of Punjab. Its main functions are to promote and sugges ...
*
Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan
The Supreme Court Bar Association ( ur, )(SCBAP) is an association established in 1989 comprising the supreme court lawyers in Pakistan. The Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act 1973 provides for the forming, recognition and functioning of ...