ISLAMABAD: President Arif Alvi on Wednesday approved the appointment of Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa as new Chief Justice of Pakistan with effect from Jan 18.

Justice Khosa will assume charge of the office after the retirement of Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar on Jan 17.

Justice Khosa will remain chief justice for almost 11 months and will retire on Dec 21, 2019.

Justice Gulzar Ahmad will hold the office of chief justice after the retirement of Justice Khosa and will retire on Feb 2, 2022.

Born in 1954, Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa got a Master of Laws degree from Queens’ College, University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom in 1978 with specialisation in public international law with subjects law of peace, the law of war and armed conflict, the law of international institutions and the law of civil liberties.

He was enrolled as an advocate of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 1979 and in the Supreme Court in 1985.

According to the Supreme Court’s official website, Mr Khosa has handled thousands of cases of constitutional, criminal, civil, service, revenue and election laws as an advocate of the Supreme Court and the high court. He has conducted over 600 cases as an advocate and reported in various law reports of the country.

He is the author of books: Heeding the Constitution, Constitutional Apologues, Judging with Passion and Breaking New Ground.

He also edited and compiled the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, with all amendments up to date.

Justice Khosa was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Court of on Feb 18, 2010. He had already served as the acting chief justice from June 5, 2017, to June 11, 2017, June 29, 2017, to July 5, 2017, May 14, 2018, to May 30, 2018, and Dec 17, 2018, to Dec 23, 2018.

He has decided about 55,000 over a period of over 19 years so far.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2019