Profile of Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, Pakistan’s new chief justice

ISLAMABAD: Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa has been appointed as Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) and will assume charge of the office on January 18, 2019.

According to a notification issued by Ministry of Law and Justice, President Arif Alvi has appointed him as Chief Justice of Pakistan as he is the most senior Judge of Supreme Court. 

Justice Khosa will remain as the top judge of Pakistan till December 20, 2019.

Profile:

Born on December 21, 1954, Justice Khosa belongs to Dera Ghazi Khan.

Justice Khosa is married and blessed with two daughters and four grandchildren.

Educational qualifications:

Matriculation: Fifth position in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan in 1969

Awarded the National Talent Scholarship

Intermediate: First position in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, in 1971, Government College, Lahore. Awarded the National Talent Scholarship.

B.A.: First position in the University of the Punjab in 1973, Government College, Lahore. Awarded the National Talent Scholarship.

M.A.: Master of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from the University of the Punjab in 1975.

Tripos-I: Law Tripos, Part I, from Queens' College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1977.

LL.M.: Master of Laws degree from Queens' College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1978 with specialization in Public International Law in the subjects of the Law of Peace, the Law of War and Armed Conflict, the Law of International Institutions and the Law of Civil Liberties.

Barrister-at-Law: Called to the Bar on 26.07.1979 at the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, London, United Kingdom.

Legal practice:

(a) Enrolled as Advocate of the Lahore High Court on 13.11.1979

(b) Enrolled as Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 12.09.1985

(c) Handled thousands of cases of constitutional, criminal, civil, service, revenue and election laws as an Advocate Supreme Court and High Court

(d) Over 600 cases conducted as an Advocate reported in various Law Reports of the country

(e) Served as a Member of the Library Committee and as a Member of the Executive Committee of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, Lahore

Publications:

1. First book: ‘Heeding the Constitution’

(published in 1995 by PLD Publishers, 35-Nabha Road, Lahore, Pakistan)

2. Second book: ‘Constitutional Apologues’

(published in 1997 by Kausar Brothers, I-Turner Road, Lahore, Pakistan)

3. Edited and compiled ‘The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973’ with all amendments upto date

(published in 1989 by Kausar Brothers, I-Turner Road, Lahore, Pakistan and reprinted every year)

4. Third book: ‘Judging with Passion’

(published in 2008 by Kausar Brothers, I-Turner Road, Lahore, Pakistan)

5. Fourth book: ‘Breaking New Ground’

(in the process of completion)

6. Chief Editor of Key Law Reports (KLR) from 1989 to 1998

7. Scores of articles and research papers on diverse constitutional and legal issues published in major law reports and newspapers of the country since 1988

Teaching experience:

1. Part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law at the University Law College, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan from 1982 to 1985

2. Part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law at the Punjab University Law College, Lahore, Pakistan from 1986 to 1992

3. Part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law at the Punjab Law College, Lahore, Pakistan from 1995 to 1996

4. Part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law at the Pakistan College of Law, Lahore, Pakistan from 1996 to 1998

5. Visiting lecturer of Constitutional Law at the Civil Services Academy, Lahore; National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore; National Police Academy, Islamabad; Staff Training Institute of the Services and General Administration Department of the Government of the Punjab; Training Course for Civil Judges conducted by the Lahore High Court, Lahore; and the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)

Judicial experience:

Elevated to the Bench and appointed as a Judge of the Lahore High Court, Lahore (a court of appeal which is the second highest Court of the country) on May 21, 1998

Appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on February 18, 2010 and serving in that capacity till date

Acted as the Chief Justice of Pakistan from June 05, 2017 to June 11, 2017, June 29, 2017 to July 05, 2017, May 14, 2018 to May 30, 2018 and December 17, 2018 to December 23, 2018

Decided about fifty-five thousand cases over a period of more than nineteen and a half years so far

Conferences, seminars and symposia, etc. attended and addressed:

Attended and represented Pakistan in international conferences, seminars and symposia held in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Canada, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Mauritius, Malaysia, Nigeria, Turkey, Scotland, Republic of Ireland, Bermuda, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, United States of America, Japan, Italy and Tobago and Trinidad

Some other honours:

A founding member of the SAARCLAW

Conferred Fellowship of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada in 2006

Elected member of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada since June 2008

Serving as a member of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee for Pakistan since 2004

Incharge Judge of the Federal Judicial Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan since 2015

Member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan since 2015

Member of the Supreme Judicial Council of Pakistan since 2015

Chairman, Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since 2016