ISLAMABAD: Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan Justice Umar Ata Bandial was sworn in as the country\u2019s highest judge at a ceremony at Aiwan-i-Sadr in Islamabad.<\/p>\n
Justice Bandial was born in Lahore on September 17, 1958, and attended elementary and secondary schools in Kohat, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, and Lahore. He earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in economics from Columbia University, then a Law Tripos degree from Cambridge and a barrister-at-law qualification from the famed Lincoln\u2019s Inn in London.<\/p>\n
He was admitted as an advocate of the Lahore High Court (LHC) in 1983 and, a few years later, as an advocate of Pakistan\u2019s Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
Justice Bandial\u2019s law practise in Lahore was mostly focused on business, banking, tax, and real estate concerns. After 1993, until his ascension, Justice Bandial also handled international commercial issues.<\/p>\n
Justice Bandial has also appeared before the Supreme Court and numerous international arbitral tribunals in London and Paris.<\/p>\n
On December 4, 2004, Justice Bandial was appointed to the LHC. When Gen Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, he was one of the judges who refused to resume their oath under the Provisional Constitution Order (PCO).<\/p>\n
He was reinstated as a judge, however, as a result of a lawyers\u2019 movement for the restoration of the judiciary.<\/p>\n
Justice Bandial then served as the LHC\u2019s chief justice for two years before being appointed to the Supreme Court in June 2014.<\/p>\n
Throughout his career in the superior judiciary, Justice Bandial has issued a number of significant decisions on public and private law matters. These include rulings on civil and economic issues, constitutional rights, and matters of public interest.<\/p>\n
Justice Bandial also taught contract law and torts law at the Punjab University Law College in Lahore until 1987, and he was a member of its graduate studies committee while serving as a judge at the LHC.<\/p>\n