Zahid Hamid (; born 24 October 1947) is a Pakistani politician, and lawyer. A member of

Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) The Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) ( ur, , translit=Pākistān Muslim Līg (Nūn) PML(N) or PML-N) is a centre-right and liberal conservative political party in Pakistan. Alongside the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Par ...

, Hamid previously served as the Minister for Law and Justice and Minister of Climate Change in the Third Sharif ministry between 2015 and 2017. He briefly served as the Minister of Law and Justice in June 2013 before being appointed as Minister of Science and Technology from June 2013 to November 2014. He again served as Minister for Law and Justice under Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi from August 2017 until he resignation in November 2017. Hamid had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from 2002 to May 2018.

Family and education

Hamid was born on 24 October 1947 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, to Hamid Nawaz, a two-time MNA who served in the Pakistan Army and retired as a

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

in 1975 and later served as

foreign service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtains diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...

to tenured as diplomat in various countries Hamid's brother Shahid Hamid, served as Governor of Punjab in 1997 and was senior leader in

Pakistan Muslim League The Pakistan Muslim League ( ur, ; known as PML), is the name of several different Pakistani political parties that have dominated the right-wing platform in the country. The Muslim League (a different party) was the party of Pakistan’ ...

. After graduating from local school, Hamid attended the Punjab University where he studied law. In 1971, he graduated with a

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. For higher studies, Hamid went to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

to attend the

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. He graduated with a BA with

honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

in Philosophy and worked on the post-graduate studies. He gained a MA degree where his work contained the fundamentals of

philosophy of law Philosophy of law is a branch of philosophy that examines the nature of law and law's relationship to other systems of norms, especially ethics and political philosophy. It asks questions like "What is law?", "What are the criteria for legal val ...

. Reportedly, he received his BA Honours and MA from Cambridge University. In addition, Hamid has attended the seminars on

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

at the Business school of the

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

; and further specialised in law from

International Development Law Organization The International Development Law Organization (IDLO) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the promotion of the rule of law. With a joint focus on the promotion of rule of law and development, it works to empower people and communiti ...

based in Rome, Italy. He is a lawyer by profession.

Political career

In 1970, Hamid passed the CSS exam to join the

Central Superior Services The Central Superior Services (CSS; or Civil Service) is a permanent elite civil service authority, and the civil service that is responsible for running the bureaucratic operations and government secretariats and directorates of the Cabinet of ...

(CSS) where he worked with the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...

but resigned in 1978 from the CSS to start career in politics. He set up and managed two industrial units in the food sector from 1978 to 1988. Hamid started his career as professional lawyer and eventually becoming a senior advocate at the Supreme Court of Pakistan. In the 1990s, he established the Environmental Protection Agency authorised by Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

in 1997 and appointed as the first

Director-General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer, within a governmen ...

of the Environmental Protection Agency until being dismissed by General

Pervez Musharraf General Pervez Musharraf ( ur, , Parvez Muśharraf; born 11 August 1943) is a former Pakistani politician and four-star general of the Pakistan Army who became the tenth president of Pakistan after the successful military takeover of t ...

after staging a

self-coup A self-coup, also called autocoup (from the es, autogolpe), is a form of coup d'état in which a nation's head, having come to power through legal means, tries to stay in power through illegal means. The leader may dissolve or render powerless ...

in 1999. He ran for the seat of National Assembly in 1997 election as PPP candidate but was unsuccessful. Following the military takeover, Hamid defected to the PML(N)'s splinter group led by Shuja'at Hussain, and successfully participated for NA-114 constituency during the

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held nationwide in 2002. From 2004 to 2007, he tenured as

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

for

Defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

, Investment and

Privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

; in 2008, he had been elevated as the Minister for Law. In 2008, Hamid joined the PML(N). Between 2008 and 2013, he was active member of the PML-N in National Assembly during when the party was in opposition. In 2013, Hamid participated in

2013 Pakistani general elections General elections were held in Pakistan on Saturday 11 May 2013 to elect the members of the List of members of the 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, 14th National Assembly of Pakistan, National Assembly and the four Subdivisions of Pakistan, ...

and elected as member of National Assembly from his constituency NA-114. He appointed as

Law Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights, but later he was reassigned to Science ministry Due to the treason trial of

. Hamid abruptly resigned from the Science ministry after the special court inducted him on a Musharraf treason trial. On upon hearing the court's decision, Hamid tendered his resignation to Prime Minister

. In November 2015 he was made Minister of Climate Change and in 2016, Hamid was given the additional portfolio of the Minister of Law and Justice. He had ceased to hold ministerial office in July 2017 when the federal cabinet was disbanded following the disqualification of Prime Minister

by 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 ...

Panama Papers case The Panama Papers case (officially titled ''Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi v. Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif''), or the Panamagate case, was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Pakistan that disqualified incumbent Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz ...

decision. Following the election of Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as Prime Minister of Pakistan in August 2017, he was inducted into the federal cabinet of Abbasi. He was appointed as federal Minister of Law and Justice. He stepped down from the ministerial office of Minister for Law and Justice in November 2017, following the 2017 Tehreek-e-Labaik protest.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamid, Zahid 1947 births Living people Pakistani Muslims Punjabi people Pakistani lawyers Pakistani civil servants Pakistani industrialists Law Ministers of Pakistan Pakistan Muslim League (Q) MNAs Pakistan Muslim League (N) MNAs Pakistani MNAs 2002–2007 Pakistani MNAs 2008–2013 Pakistani MNAs 2013–2018 University of the Punjab alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Nawaz Sharif administration Politicians from Sialkot Government ministers of Pakistan