Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry

Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ( Urdu: افتخارمحمدچودھری; born 12 December 1948 in Quetta ) was the 20th Chief Justice ( Chief Justice ) of Pakistan. He presided over the Supreme Court of Pakistan from 2005-2007 and after his restoration of 2009-2013 until they reach retirement age.

Professional career

Legal education and occupation

Chaudhry studied at the Jamshoro - Sindh and graduated with the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws ( LLB) from. He joined the Bar Association in 1974. In 1976, he became a lawyer at the High Court and was admitted as a solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1985. He was appointed Attorney General in Balochistan in 1989 and was later employed as an additional judge of the High Court of Balochistan. It was at this Court of November 6, 1990 to April 21, 1999 Judge. On 4 February 2000 he was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court.

First term as chief judge (2005-2007)

On May 7, 2005 President Pervez Musharraf appointed him as President of the Supreme Court. Under his leadership, the Court judged in 2006 to privatize the state Steel Mills as hasty and illegal. Also examined the court an affair of missing Baloch and Islamist activists. This displeased Musharaff and he sat Chaudhry on March 9, 2007 as the President of the Supreme Court from. The court then continued on 9 July 2007 his sacked himself again. In his view, the suspension was not lawful. Chaudhry was allowed to carry out its function, the government has also imposed a fine of 100,000 rupees for the submission of false accusations .. It was the first case of a judicial repeal of a decreed by the President of deposition in the history of Pakistan.

After the imposition of emergency on November 2007, the military ruler Musharraf also changed, for the second time, Chaudhry from. He got rid of one of his fiercest adversaries. As the successor of Chaudhry Abdul Hamid Dogar was still the same day sworn. Chaudhry was provided by security forces under de facto house arrest. He and six other judges had refused to obey the arrangement Musharraf. Earlier, the Supreme Court, which for months gave up a power struggle with Musharraf, says the imposition of substantiated with the unstable situation in the country except the state invalid. The decree was " illegal", chose a panel of seven judges. However, a government spokesman said it was not relevant, since the imposition of the emergency decree contained a clause according to which it was not open to challenge by a court of law. The court was shortly before the opening of the judgment whether Musharraf in the presidential election in early October at all would be able to compete because he was also head of the army. With the imposition of emergency rule, Musharraf initially remained army chief and president.

Support by the movement of lawyers (2008 - 2009)

The parliamentary elections in February 2008 after Benazir Bhutto's death could be decided by the parties of the opposition clearly for itself. Strongest party, the PPP, followed by guided by Nawaz Sharif PML -N. Shortly thereafter, both parties agreed to form a coalition. On 24 March 2008, the Parliament of the PPP politician and former parliamentary speaker Yousaf Raza Gilani as Prime Minister chose. This immediately ordered the release of all imprisoned in the state of emergency in November 2007, or placed under house arrest judges and lawyers. The inside politically difficult to come under pressure President Musharraf declared his resignation on 18 August 2008, which was mainly due to the fact that the new government wanted to initiate impeachment proceedings. This Musharraf probably wanted to forestall. The in the run up to the presidential elections reinforcing power struggle between the PPP and the PML -N led on 25 August 2008 to break the coalition government, so that both parties competed with its own presidential candidate. Cause of the rift were disagreements over the precise modalities of the restoration of the sacked judges of the Supreme Court under Musharraf. Unlike the PPP, the PML -N demanded unconditional reinstatement of lawyers.

The lawyers gave their demands that were once directed against Musharraf after his resignation is not on. From the newly elected government of President Asif Ali Zardari, they demanded, among other things the reinstatement of Chief Justice Chaudhry and the rule of law and independence of the judiciary in Pakistan. But Zardari refused the reinstatement of Chief Justice Chaudhry. He feared that Chaudhry would declare an amnesty law to be unconstitutional, which had enabled him in the fall of 2007, despite corruption claims have no criminal return home.

As a result, the lawyers in Pakistan started a new wave of peaceful protest demonstrations, hunger strikes, press releases, statements and boycott of the courts. As of 12 March 2009, the Pakistani lawyers themselves went from the port city of Karachi on a " Long March " through the whole of Pakistan towards Islamabad, where on March 16, 2009, should " sit-in " to take place ( sit-in ) outside the parliament building. This protest was supported by the lawyers led by Nawaz Sharif party PML -N and other opposition parties.

The government imposed a ban on meetings in three of the four provinces of Pakistan. Hundreds of leaders of political parties and the lawyers have been arrested and all roads leading to the capital blocked by roadblocks. There were also violent clashes between the police and the protesters. The long march continued, however. The protesters, Nawaz Sharif and finally managed to break the blockades and to make on the way to Islamabad. A few hours later finally declared on 16 March 2009, the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in a televised address that the Chaudhry government and the other deposed judges may establish 'll return to their offices. The government-appointed Chief Justice would retire.

Second term as chief judge (2009 - 2013)

On March 21, 2009 Chaudhry took over as chief judge back on his activities. Soon after, he called on the Prime Minister Gilani, Switzerland to international legal assistance to consult because of suspected bribes to bank accounts of members of the family Zardari Bhutto. Since Gilani, citing the immunity of incumbent President Zardari refused to comply with this request, he was sentenced by the Supreme Court on 26 April 2012 due to disregard the court order. It was the first time that a Pakistani prime minister was sentenced during his tenure. On June 19, 2012 Gilardi was forced to resign from his post because the court declared him as incapacitation, because he had been convicted. The handling of the Supreme Court with the Pakistani government, however, led to increased criticism of the lawyers and the lawyers. So announced Asma Jahangir, President of the Bar Association and co-founder of the Pakistan Human Rights Commission: " We want a strong, powerful no justice. "

On December 11, 2013, one day before his 65th birthday, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry resigned as President of the Supreme Court back because he has reached the age of retirement from his post. He was replaced as chief judge of Tassaduq Hussain Jillani.

Awards

• 2007: Harvard Law School Medal of Freedom