Screengrab of Justice Umar Ata Bandial’s oath-taking ceremony
Sworn in as the 28th CJP, Justice Bandial is set to serve as top judge until Sept. 18, 2023
Justice Umar Ata Bandial was on Wednesday sworn in as the 28th Chief Justice of Pakistan in an oath-taking administered by President Arif Alvi and attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, senior Army officials, judges, lawyers and various federal ministers.
Justice Bandial replaces Justice Gulzar Ahmed, who served as Pakistan’s top judge from December 2019 till February 2022 when he reached the age of superannuation. Justice Bandial would serve as the Chief Justice of Pakistan until his retirement on Sept. 18, 2023, with Justice Faez Isa slated to replace him next year.
On Tuesday, during an address at a full-court reference honoring the outgoing CJP, Justice Bandial cited a massive backlog of pending cases and abuse of judges on social media as “major issues” facing the judiciary. Describing such attacks as “unprofessional and uncivilized, quite apart from being unconstitutional,” he urged the bar to help prevent this, warning that otherwise the court would have to directly intervene.
He also stressed that judges are capable of correcting their own mistakes and did not need public pressure to fulfill their duties. “The differences in judges’ opinions in matters of law arise from our individual perceptions and this diversity brings richness to our understanding,” he said. “That is how yesterday’s minority view may become tomorrow’s majority judgement,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court’s reversal of its verdict in a case related to the assets of Justice Qazi Faez Isa’s family.
During his address, Justice Bandial urged the legal fraternity to expedite case resolutions by reducing adjournment motions and increasing their reliance on written briefs, concise statements and skeleton arguments by counsel. “One problem that is easily identifiable is the large number of frivolous disputes that clutter the justice system,” he said, suggesting that these should be put through alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
Justice Bandial’s profile
Born on September 17, 1958 in Lahore, Justice Bandial secured his B.A. (Economics) degree from Columbia University, U.S, followed by a Law Tripos degree from Cambridge University, U.K. In 1983, he was enrolled as an advocate of the Lahore High Court and subsequently as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Primarily a commercial, banking, tax and property lawyer, Justice Bandial also handled international commercial disputes prior to his elevation to the Lahore High Court, appearing in arbitration matters before the Supreme Court of Pakistan and international arbitral tribunals in London and Paris.
Justice Bandial was elevated to the Lahore High Court on Dec. 4, 2004. He was one of the judges who decline to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order in November 2007 and was restored as a judge after the lawyers’ movement. He subsequently served as Chief Justice of the Lahore High Cout for two years before being elevated to the Supreme Court in June 2014.