Dhaka,
Aug 10 (UNB)- Syed Refaat Ahmed, senior judge of the High Court Division of the
Supreme Court, was appointed asthe 25th chief justice of Bangladesh on
Saturday.
The Ministry of Law,
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued a notification in this
regard.President Mohammed Shahabuddin made theappointment, whichwill be
effective from the date of the oath. Hewill take oath as the Chief Justice at
12pm on Sunday, said Md Shafiqul Islam, public relations officer at the Supreme
Court.
Syed Refaat was born on
28 December 1958. His father, Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed, was a legendary legal mind
and an Attorney General of Bangladesh and his mother, Language Movement veteran
Sufia Ahmed, was a National Professor of Bangladesh and a professor of Islamic
History and Culture at the University of Dhaka.
He obtained LL.B. (Hons)
(First Class, First in order of merit), University of Dhaka. He completed a
bachelor of arts in jurisprudence and masters at the Wadham College of Oxford
University in 1983. Later, he completed his Masters and PhD from The Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University, USA.
He was also a Ford
Foundation Fellow in Public International Law at The Fletcher School.
In 1984, Ahmed became a
lawyer of the District Courts. He became a lawyer of the High Court Division in
1986. In 2002, he became a lawyer of the High Court Division. Later, he was
appointed an additional justice of the Bangladesh High Court on 27 April 2003.
Ahmed was made a permanent Judge on the High Court Division on 27 April 2005.
Justice Refaat Ahmed
also worked as a Lawyer in the City of London and with the UNHCR in Hong
Kongand Washington, D.C.
He is a founder Member
of Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, Brazil. He participated in
International Roundtables, Workshops, Conventions, Study Tours and Courses held
in the UK, Germany, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Nepal, Italy, Singapore,
Thailand, USA, Brazil and Myanmar.
Earlier this day, six
judges including chief justice Obaidul Hassan resigned from their posts.
The other five judges
are Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique, Justice Jahangir
Hossain Selim, Justice Md Shahinur Islam and Justice Kashefa Hussain.
They sent their
resignation letters to the president through the Law Ministry.
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