Hasan Foez Siddique appointed new chief justice
Appellate Division justice Hasan Foez Siddique has been appointed as 23rd chief justice of Bangladesh. President Abdul Hamid appointed Justice Siddique as per article 95(1) of the constitution.
Law ministry published a gazette notification in this end on Thursday.
Justice Siddique’s appointment would be effective from the day he takes oath, 31 December. The tenure of present chief justice Mahmud Hossain will end on 31 December this year.
Mahmud Hossain took oath as the country’s 22nd CJ on 3 February 2018 after the resignation of Surendra Kumar Sinha.
As today was the last day of justice Mahmud Hossain’s tenure, the number of Appellate Division judges has now become four including Hasan Foez Siddique. Other appellate division judges are justice Muhammad Imman Ali, justice Md Nuruzzaman and justice Obaidul Hassan.
Born on 26 September 1956, the new CJ Siddique was enrolled as an advocate of the district court, the High Court Division and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh on 21 August 1981, 4 September 1983 and 27 May 1999 respectively.
He acted as legal advisor to Khulna City Corporation, Kushtia Municipality, Jalalabad Gas Transmission Company and chief law adviser of the home ministry. He also worked as an additional attorney general.
Hasan Foez Siddique was elevated as judge of the High Court Division on 25 March 2009 and as a judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on 31 March 2013.
He has been acting as the chairman of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Commission since 30 April 2015.
Justice Siddique participated in the conference of South Asian Judges Regional Forum on Economic and Financial Crime held in Sri Lanka in 2011, South Asian Conference on Environmental Justice in Pakistan in 2012, International Conference on Environment held in New Delhi, India in 2015 and 17th International Conference of Chief Justices of the World held in Lucknow, India in 2016.
Among the countries he visited are India, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.