Justice Qazi Faez Isa sworn in as 29th chief justice of Pakistan

Justice Qazi Faez Isa was sworn in as the 29th chief justice of Pakistan on Sunday, Aaj News reported.

A ceremony was held at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad during which President Arif Alvi administered the oath of office. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir were also present.

The ceremony began with the reading of the Holy Quran, followed by the announcement of Justice Isa’s appointment.

Afterward, the president administered the oath to Justice Isa, who was accompanied by his wife Sarina Isa.

Justice Isa’s nomination as the next Chief Justice of Pakistan was approved by President Dr Arif Alvi on June 21.

Justice Isa has been provided security as the CJP as per the law. The outgoing Chief Justice Bandial expressed best wishes for his successor. He has also vacated his official residence at Judges Colony.

Justice Bandial has served as the top judicial office for over 20 months, whereas Justice Isa will serve as chief justice for over a year, until Oct 25, 2024

Justice Faez Isa’s profile

Born on October 26, 1959, in Quetta, Qazi Faez Isa is the son of the late Qazi Mohammad Isa of Pishin and the grandson of Qazi Jalaluddin, the Prime Minister of Kalat State, according to information available on the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s website.

Justice Isa was called to the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temple, 1982) and enrolled as an advocate of the Balochistan High Court and as an advocate of the Supreme Court from Balochistan. He practiced law for over 27 years before all the High Courts of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

He became a member of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, Sindh High Court Bar Association and Life Member of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.

Before Justice Isa’s elevation to the High Court, he was a senior partner and head of litigation in one of Pakistan’s leading law firms. He rendered his services as amicus curiae when called upon by the High Courts and Supreme Court of Pakistan and had also conducted international arbitrations.

He also served on the boards of the largest bank of Pakistan, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and of the Quaid-e-Azam Mazaar Management Board.

After the proclamation of emergency of November 3, 2007, he elected not to appear before judges who had violated their oath. Subsequently, after the Supreme Court declared the action of November 3, 2007 constitutional, all the then judges of the High Court of Balochistan tendered their resignation, and on August 5, 2009 Justice Isa was directly elevated to the position of Chief Justice of the High Court of Balochistan.

At the time of his elevation, Justice Isa was the solitary judge in the High Court. He nominated judges, all of whom were confirmed, and thus reestablished the High Court of Balochistan. He reopened the High Court at Sibi which had remained closed for a number of years, and acquired land for the construction of the High Court at Turbat and approved the design of its building.

He then went on to upgrade all the courts in Balochistan focusing on facilitating access and providing facilities to the public.

Justice Isa introduced a system of transparent induction of officials and officers in the High Court after advertising such posts. During his tenure a large number of vacant judicial posts in the subordinate judiciary were filled. Each post was advertised and each applicant had to sit for a series of exams and acquire a minimum pass mark before being invited for an interview.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa took oath as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on September 5, 2014.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan’s website states that “Justice Isa’s judgments reflect a strong desire to adhere to the Constitution and the Rule of Law”.

He is also at pains to safeguard the public interest. He wrote a powerful dissent in the case assailing the Twenty-first Amendment to the Constitution, which enabled the trial of civilians by military court (District Bar Association, Rawalpindi v Federation of Pakistan, PLD 2015 Supreme Court 410, at 1158-1209), it said.

“Neither the Federation nor the provinces should invade upon the rights of the other nor encroach on the other’s legislative domain”, wrote Justice Isa (Sindh Revenue Board v Civil Aviation Authority, 2017 SCMR 1344) whilst striking down the imposition of ‘sales tax on services’ imposed on the Civil Aviation Authority, a federal regulatory authority, by the Sindh Legislature.