Farooq Hamid Naek ( ur, ; b. 1 July 1947 also spelled Farooq H. Naik), is a Pakistani politician and lawyer, who served as the

Chairman Senate The Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan ( ur, ), is the president-chair of the Senate of Pakistan.Minister of Law as well as headed the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

in the

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 ...

led by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Yousaf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 26 April 2012. He ...

. After successfully contesting in the 2008 general elections, Naek won the bid for the law ministry, but ascended to

Chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 2009. Due to cabinet reshuffle by Gillani in 2012, he was again appointed as law minister of the country. He is a high-ranking member of the

central committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the

Pakistan Peoples Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded ...

, and has been a personal lawyer and legal counselor in the

legal cases A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common law#Disambiguate civil law, Common- ...

leveled up against

Benazir Bhutto Benazir Bhutto ( ur, بینظیر بُھٹو; sd, بينظير ڀُٽو; Urdu ; 21 June 1953 – 27 December 2007) was a Pakistani politician who served as the 11th and 13th prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and again from 1993 t ...

and her spouse

Asif Ali Zardari Asif Ali Zardari ( ur, ; sd, ; born 26 July 1955) is a Pakistani politician who is the president of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians and was the co-chairperson of Pakistan People's Party. He served as the 11th president of Pakistan ...

since 1996.

Legal career

Naek was brought up 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 ...

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. After graduating from high school, he was accepted at the

Sindh Muslim Law College The Sindh Muslim Government Law College (Urdu: سنده مسلم گورنمنٹس لا کالج) or S. M. Law College (Urdu: ایس ایم لاء کالج) is one of the oldest law schools of Pakistan, situated in Karachi, Sindh. The college has ...

, where he earned an

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 ...

in law. Later, he went on to attend the post-graduate school of the

University of Karachi The University of Karachi ( sd, ; informally Karachi University, KU, or UoK) is a public research university located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. Established in June 1951 by an act of Parliament and as a successor to the University of Sindh (whic ...

where he earned an MA in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

. His political career began in 1971, when he served as Assistant Director at the Directorate of Labour and Social Welfare of the provincial

Government of Sindh The Government of Sindh ( sd, حڪومت سنڌ) ( ur, ) is the provincial government of the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the 1973 Constitution, in which 30 Districts of 7 Divisions un ...

. He then was a Civil Judge and First Class Magistrate from 1971 to 1975. He was elected General Secretary of Karachi Bar Association during mid-1985-90. He also served as Deputy

Attorney General of Pakistan The Attorney-General for Pakistan is the chief law officer and legal advisor of the Government of Pakistan and enjoys rights of audience before Parliament. The Attorney-General, who serves as Pakistan's public prosecutor, is nominated by the Prime ...

from 1994 to 1996 in the second

government. Naek enrolled as Advocate of local court in 1970, advocate of high court in 1976, and of

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 ...

in 1990. He resigned from the judicial service after serving as civil judge for two years and became an active member of the PPP in the mid-1970s."Why Naek was named Senate chief"
''The News'', 10 March 2009 Naek was arrested in 1995, after leading a demonstration against the dictatorial rule of General Zia Ul Haq. He was held in Central Prison, Karachi, for about six months along with 10 other lawyers. Although Naek was associated with the PPP for three decades, he only shot to prominence when he fought the corruption and criminal cases against

and

during

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 the ...

's rule in and out of Pakistan. It was during these extremely difficult years of Zardari that Naek earned his trust. Before and after becoming the President of Pakistan, Zardari always consulted him on legal matters and other issues. Naek contested the 2016 Supreme Court Bar Association elections for President, against Rasheed A. Razvi. Naek however lost the election with a large margin.

Political appointments

Naek has been the senator from Sindh since 2003. He was appointed as the Federal Minister for Law and Justice as a result of

2008 Pakistani general election 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

. He was reappointed as the Federal Minister for Law and Justice in April 2012 after his 3-year term as Chairman of Senate.

References

External links

Official Biography of Law minister Farooq H. NaikProfile of Senator Farooq Naek
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Naek, Farooq Chairmen of the Senate of Pakistan Law Ministers of Pakistan Living people Pakistan People's Party politicians Pakistani lawyers University of Karachi alumni People from Karachi Sindh Muslim Law College alumni 1947 births Pakistani senators (14th Parliament)