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Hon'ble Mr. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa |
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Mr. Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa was born on December 21, 1954 at Dera
Ghazi Khan. He passed his Matriculation Examination in the year 1969 from
the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Multan, securing fifth
position in the Board and winning the National Talent Scholarship. As a
student of Government College, Lahore he passed his Intermediate
Examination in the year 1971 from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary
Education, Lahore, securing first position in the Board and winning the
National Talent Scholarship. Again as a student of Government College,
Lahore he passed his B.A. Examination in the year 1973 from the University
of the Punjab, securing first position in the University and winning the
National Talent Scholarship. He secured his M.A. degree in English
Language & Literature from the University of the Punjab in the year
1975. After proceeding to the United Kingdom in the year 1976 for his
legal education he completed his Law Tripos, Part I, from Queens' College,
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in the year 1977. He got his LL.M.
degree from Queens' College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in
the year 1978 with specialization in Public International Law in the
subjects of the Law of Peace, the Law of War and Armed Conflict, the Law
of International Institutions and the Law of Civil Liberties. He was
called to the Bar on July 26, 1979 at the Honourable Society of Lincoln's
Inn, London, United Kingdom and was conferred the degree of Utter
Barrister. Justice Khosa was enrolled as an Advocate of the Lahore High Court on
November 13, 1979 and later as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of
Pakistan on September 12, 1985. He practised law for a few months before
the District Courts at Dera Ghazi Khan and then for a few years at the
Multan Bench of the Lahore High Court before shifting his legal practice
to Lahore. As an Advocate Supreme Court he had handled thousands of cases
of constitutional, criminal, civil, service, revenue and election laws in
the superior courts of Pakistan. Over 600 cases conducted by him had been
reported in various Law Reports. He also served as a Member of the Library
Committee and as a Member of the Executive Committee of the Lahore High
Court Bar Association, Lahore for some time. During his legal practice Justice Khosa had authored two books titled
'Heeding the Constitution' (published in 1995 by P.L.D. Publishers,
35-Nabha Road, Lahore) and 'Constitutional Apologues' (published in 1997
by Kausar Brothers, I-Turner Road, Lahore). He had also edited and
compiled 'The Constitution of Pakistan, 1973' with all amendments upto
date (published in 1989 by Kausar Brothers, I-Turner Road, Lahore and
reprinted every year). He had regularly been writing articles on various
aspects of the Constitution of Pakistan and the same had frequently been
published in P.L.D., P.L.J. and all the major English Newspapers of the
country. Justice Khosa belongs to a well-educated, landed, well-known and
well-placed family of the Punjab. His father Sardar Faiz Muhmmad Khan
Khosa, who was awarded the Tehrik-e-Pakistan Gold Medal by the Punjab
Government for having worked closely with the Quaid-e-Azam in the struggle
for Independence, is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who had
also served in the past as an elected member of the Pakistan Bar Council.
Justice Khosa is son-in-law of Justice (Retired) Dr. Syed Nasim Hasan Shah
who served the superior judiciary of Pakistan for over twenty-six years
and retired as Chief Justice of Pakistan in the year 1994. The intellectual credentials of Justice Khosa equally match his academic
record. He had served as a part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law at the
University Law College, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan from 1982 to
1985, the Punjab University Law College, Lahore from 1986 to 1992 and the
Punjab Law College, Lahore from 1995 to 1996. At the time of his elevation
to the Bench he was serving as a part-time lecturer of Constitutional Law
at the Pakistan College of Law, Lahore. He was also a visiting lecturer of
Constitutional Law at the Civil Services Academy, Lahore; National
Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore; National Police
Academy, Islamabad; Staff Training Institute of the Services and General
Administration Department of the Government of the Punjab; Training Course
for Civil Judges conducted by the Lahore High Court, Lahore; and the
Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He had also served as the
Chief Editor of Key Law Reports (KLR) from 1989 to 1998. His publications
on the constitutional law of Pakistan were read and referred to with
seriousness. His legal services had, on many occasions, been usefully
utilized by the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Lahore High Court when
he was called upon to assist the Courts as amicus curiae in different
important cases. Justice Khosa has ample national and international exposure. As a lawyer
and then as a Judge he has participated and represented Pakistan in
various conferences, seminars and symposia held in Pakistan and abroad. He
is a founding member of the SAARCLAW. Some of the major international
conferences / seminars attended by him are: International Law
Association's Conference on 'The Right to Food' held at Islamabad,
Pakistan in 1990; First SAARCLAW Conference held at Colombo, Sri Lanka in
1991; Second SAARCLAW Conference held at Karachi, Pakistan in 1992; Third
SAARCLAW Conference held at New Delhi, India in 1994; Contributed a paper
for the Asia Law Conference on Social Development held at Hyderabad, India
on February 17-19, 1995; Joint Seminar on 'Contemporary Issues Concerning
Criminal Justice: A Comparative Perspective' conducted by the National
Police Academy, Islamabad in collaboration with the United Nations Asia
and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of
Offenders, Tokyo held at Rawalpindi, Pakistan on March 12-16, 1995; Fourth
SAARCLAW Conference held at Kathmandu, Nepal on March 31-April 2, 1995;
Seminar on 'Civil Services of Pakistan: Challenges and Opportunities'
conducted by the Civil Services Academy, Lahore on September 17, 1995;
Workshop on 'Human Rights Education' held by the National Institute of
Public Administration (NIPA), Lahore on August 18, 1997; Sixth SAARCLAW
Conference held at Karachi, Pakistan on October 3-5, 1997; Human Rights
Conference of the International Bar Association held at Lahore, Pakistan
on March 29-31, 1998; Presided over and conducted three workshops at
Islamabad, Lahore and Multan in 2004 attended by Sessions Judges,
Additional Sessions Judges and Senior Civil Judges of all the Districts of
the Province of the Punjab on the topics of ‘Judicial Ethics’ and
‘Delay Reduction’; Serving as a member of the Rhodes Scholarship
Selection Committee for Pakistan since 2004; Attended the Third Biennial
Meeting of Commonwealth Judicial Educators organized by the Commonwealth
Judicial Education Institute, Canada in collaboration with Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) in New Delhi and Bhopal, India on
March 12-19, 2005; Attended the Golden Jubilee ceremonies of the Punjab
and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh, India in December, 2005 as one of
the representatives of the Lahore High Court; Attended the Intensive Study
Programme for Judicial Educators conducted by the Commonwealth Judicial
Education Institute, Halifax, Canada from June 03, 2006 to June 24,
2006 at Halifax, Ottawa and Toronto, Canada; Conferred Fellowship of the
Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada in 2006;
Attended the International Judicial Conference held at
Islamabad, Pakistan on August 11-14, 2006 in connection with the
Golden Jubilee ceremonies of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and contributed
a paper therein titled ‘Independence of Judiciary: The Final
Frontier’; Attended the International Conference on ‘Criminal Justice
under stress: Transnational Perspectives’ held by the Indian Law
Institute at Delhi, India on November 24-25, 2006 in connection with its
Golden Jubilee celebrations; and attended the Intensive Study Programme
for Judicial Educators conducted by the Commonwealth Judicial Education
Institute, Halifax, Canada from June 03, 2007 to June 23, 2007 at Halifax,
Ottawa and Toronto, Canada as an Instructor. In June 2008 Justice Khosa
was appointed a member of the Board of Directors of the Commonwealth
Judicial Education Institute, Halifax, Canada. Apart from his professional and academic interests Justice Khosa has a
keen interest in different sports and outdoor activities. He had won many
prizes in different indoor sports in Government College, Lahore and had
also played Cricket for Queens' College, University of Cambridge. He has
also travelled extensively in Europe, America, the Middle East, the Far
East and the Indian sub-continent. Barrister Asif Saeed Khan Khosa had been elevated to the Bench and
appointed as a Judge of the Lahore High Court, Lahore with effect from May
21, 1998. On November 03, 2007 General Pervez Musharraf, President of
Pakistan and also Chief of the Army Staff, imposed ‘Emergency’ in the
country, suspended the Constitution and required the members of the
superior judiciary to take a fresh oath of office owing allegiance to his
Provisional Constitution Order. Like the Chief Justice of Pakistan and an
overwhelming majority of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the
provincial High Courts Justice Khosa also refused to take such a fresh
oath and, thus, according to General Musharraf’s decree he and the other
defiant Chief Justices and Judges ‘ceased’ to hold their offices.
However, as a result of the ensuing unprecedented, momentous and
relentless movement launched by the lawyers of Pakistan, joined by the
civil society and political workers across the board, seeking restoration
of the ‘deposed’ Judges, General Pervez Musharraf, President of
Pakistan, resigned on August 18, 2008 under a threat of impeachment by the
Parliament and Justice Khosa was restored to his office on August 30,
2008. In recognition of their sacrifices for upholding the rule of law
Justice Khosa and the other Chief Justices and Judges were conferred the
‘Rule of Law Award’ by the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) on
January 05, 2008. An ‘Award of Honour’ was conferred upon ‘The
Judicial Heroes of Pakistan’ by the Commonwealth Judicial Education
Institute (CJEI), Halifax, Canada in February 2008. The American Bar
Association also honoured Justice Khosa and the other defiant Chief
Justices and Judges with a special Award. During his ‘deposed’ status
Justice Khosa wrote his third book ‘Judging with Passion’ which is
currently in the process of publication. Justice Khosa is presently a member of the Administration Committee of
the Lahore High Court, Lahore.
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LHC - Shahrah-e-Quaid-e-Azam
- Lahore - Pakistan