Qazi Faez Isa likely to face PTI protest in London

LONDON: Former chief justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa faces protests by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) on Tuesday when the former Chief Justice will attend a dinner by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.

Jahanzeb Khan, former Senior Vice President PTI UK, and Sahibzada Jahangir, Imran Khan’s friend and former advisor confirmed to Geo News that a protest has been called at the Temple in Central London to protest the participation of Qazi Faez Isa and to condemn the Temple for inviting him and elevating him in the Temple. Jahanzeb Khan said that former minister PTI Cabinet ministers and advisors Zulfi Bukhari, Sayeda Maleeka Bukahri and Sharyar Afridi will take part in the protest.

The Middle Temple has confirmed that it has invited Justice Isa for the bench call where the ceremony is being held for the Benchers and members of the Inn to call elected members to the Bench. The Callees include Justice Qazi Faez Isa, Professor Adrian Briggs, Isabel Hitching KC and Nikki Singla KC. They will be called to the bench before dinner and asked to take their place at the high table. Qazi Faez Isa will give a short speech to the benchers and members, the Middle Temple confirmed.

Former chief justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa has become first Pakistan to get elected as bencher at Middle Temple, a prestigious legal institutions in the United Kingdom. Isa, who retired as top judge of Pakistan on October 25, has arrived in London to attend the ceremony in his honor. Qazi Faez Isa studied law at the Middle Temple and his father, Qazi Isa, was also a graduate of Middle Temple.

Isa had written to the administration of Middle Temple stating that he could only attend the event after his retirement on October 25, prompting the ceremony to be rescheduled for October 29.

Middle Temple is one of four historic and esteemed legal institutions known as the Inns of Court in London. These institutions provide training to law students and grant licences for entry into the legal profession. The other three Inns of Court are Gray’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn and Inner Temple.

Founded in the 14th century, Middle Temple has held a significant position at the heart of the British legal system for centuries. The following distinguished people, who later rose as global statesmen, premiers, presidents, chief justices, monarchs, chief ministers, governors, mayors etc have studied at the prestigious Middle Temple during the last few centuries: former British premiers John Major, Boris Johnson and David Cameron, Hong Kong’s first Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, Andrew Li, Princess of Wales, Lady Diana, Hong Kong’s Judge of Final Appeal Kemal Bokhary, Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his wife, Kwa Choo, British Supreme Court judges Simon Brown, Anthony Clarke and Mark Saville, Irish High Court judge Sir Donnell Deeny, Thailand’s former premiers, Sanya Dharmasakti, Pote Sarasin, and Phraya Manopakorn, ex-Chief Justice Allahabad High Court, John Edge, King Edward VII, King Edward VIII, Indian Viceroy and Rufus Daniel Isaacs among others.

Apart from the Middle Temple, the other three Inns of Court (Gray’s Inn, Lincoln’s Inn and Inner Temple) have also churned out some magnificent personalities like Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, Pakistani Premier/President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Indian Premier Jawaharlal Nehru, former Pakistani President Wasim Sajjad, British prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair, Indian President Shankar Dayal Sharma, Pakistani Supreme Court judge, Dorab Patel, former Chief Justice Lahore High Court and Allama Iqbal’s son, Justice (R) Javed Iqbal, Indian Union Minister of Defence, Krishna Menon and Bhimrao Ambedkar, the former Indian Law Minister and the man who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India.