In a formal ceremony at the Presidential House in Islamabad, Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa assumed the role of the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) on Sunday, succeeding his predecessor Umar Ata Bandial, who retired a day prior.
President Dr. Arif Alvi presided over the oath-taking ceremony, which drew the attendance of prominent government and military dignitaries, including interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, Army Chief General Asim Munir, senators, and foreign ambassadors.
Justice Isa's tenure as the nation's top jurist is set to be brief, as he is scheduled to step down from the position on October 25, 2024. He was originally appointed as a Supreme Court judge on September 5, 2014. In a curious turn, he had not been assigned any constitutional cases for the past three years due to a presidential reference filed against him in 2019.
Born on October 26, 1959, in Quetta, Justice Isa hails from a family with a storied history in the Pakistan Movement, with his late father, Qazi Mohammad Isa, being a notable figure and close associate of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
After his early education in Quetta, Justice Isa pursued O and A levels at Karachi Grammar School before furthering his legal education in London, where he completed the bar professional examination at the Inns of Court School of Law.
He commenced his career in the legal profession as a judge in the Balochistan High Court on January 30, 1985, subsequently achieving the status of an advocate of the Supreme Court in March 1998. During the era of Pervez Musharraf's emergency declaration on November 3, 2007, Justice Isa chose not to appear before judges who had taken oaths under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO). Later, following the annulment of the November 3 decision by the Supreme Court, the judges of the Balochistan High Court resigned, while Justice Isa received a direct appointment as a judge of the provincial high court on August 5, 2009.
Prior to his judicial career, Justice Isa served the legal field for 27 years, offering his expertise in various important cases for different high courts, the Supreme Court, and international arbitrations.
Over the past five months, Justice Isa, who took the oath as a Supreme Court judge in September 2014, has confined his work to chambers as a form of protest stemming from his disagreement with the chief justice regarding suo motu powers. In March of this year, Justice Isa, along with Justice Qazi Ameenuddin, issued a ruling suspending the hearing of all cases under Article 184(3) until the Supreme Court establishes rules related to the SC's Practice and Procedure Act.
With a distinguished 45-year career in the legal field, Justice Isa boasts a rich and diverse background. Before his judicial appointment, he contributed articles on various subjects, including the Constitution, law, Islam, and the environment, to leading English-language publications in Pakistan. Furthermore, he co-authored the book 'Mass Media Laws and Regulations in Pakistan' in 1997 and authored the report 'Balochistan: Case and Demand,' published by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT) in 2007.
