Qazi Faez Isa

He represented Balochistan in the 1940 Lahore Resolution.

The diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi is his first cousin, and Jennifer Musa, an Irish-Pakistani social worker was his aunt through marriage to his paternal uncle Qazi Muhammad Musa.

He completed his primary and secondary education in Quetta, did his "O" and "A" levels from Karachi Grammar School and went on to do B.A. (Honours) in Law, from London.

Qazi Faez Isa (, ; born 26 October 1959) is a Pakistani jurist who is currently serving as the 29th Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) since 17 September 2023.

Isa was born in Quetta, West Pakistan on 26 October 1959 to Qazi Muhammad Isa and Begum Saida Isa.

He did his Bar professional examination from the Inns of Court School of Law, London, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temple, 1982).

Isa enrolled as an Advocate of the Balochistan High Court on 30 January 1985 and as an Advocate Supreme Court on 21 March 1998.

He practiced law for over 27 years before all the High Courts of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court, and the Supreme Court of Pakistan, and was a member of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association, Sindh High Court Bar Association and Life Member of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan.

Before his elevation, he was a senior partner and head of litigation in one of Pakistan's leading law firms.

From time to time he was called upon by the High Courts and the Supreme Court as amicus curiae, and rendered assistance in certain complicated cases.

He has also conducted international arbitrations.

Innumerable cases, in which he appeared as Counsel, have been reported in law journals.

Prior to his elevation, Justice Isa regularly wrote for Pakistan's English newspapers.

He co-wrote the book Mass Media Laws and Regulations in Pakistan and wrote the report: Balochistan: case and demand.

After the proclamation of emergency of November 3, 2007, Isa elected not to appear before judges who had violated their oath.

Subsequently, after the Supreme Court declared the action of November 3, 2007 unconstitutional, all the then judges of the High Court of Balochistan tendered their resignation, and on August 5, 2009, Justice Isa was directly elevated to the position of Chief Justice of the High Court of Balochistan.

At the time of elevation, Justice Isa was the solitary judge in the Balochistan High Court.

He thus nominated Judges to re-establish the Court, and re-opened the court in Sibi and Turbat.

He went on to upgrade all courts in Balochistan, focusing on facilitating access and providing facilities to the public.

Isa served as a member of the Pakistan Law and Justice Commission, the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee and the Federal Judicial Academy.

In his capacity as the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court, he was also the ex-officio Chairman of the Balochistan Judicial Academy.

As the senior most Chief Justice of a High Court Isa served as a member of the Supreme Judicial Council.

He was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court in 2014, having previously served as the chief justice of Balochistan High Court from 2009 to 2014.

Justice Qazi Faez Isa took oath as a judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 5 September 2014, where he is currently the senior most Judge.

He strongly dissented in the case of District Bar Association Rawalpindi v Federation of Pakistan, which enabled the trial of civilians by military court.

In the case of Sindh Revenue Board v Civil Aviation Authority, he held that 'neither the Federation nor the provinces should invade upon the rights of the other nor encroach on the other's legislative domain'.

In the case of suo moto proceedings regarding eligibility of the chairman, Sindh Public Service Commission, Justice Isa directed the Government of Sindh to 'ensure complete transparency in the process of selection and appointment respectively' of qualified candidates, as their 'performance and work would be far superior to the inept allowed in through the back door of nepotism and/or corruption'.

Justice Isa addressed illegalities in government projects in Suo Moto Case no. 19 of 2016, in which he observed that 'a small clique of persons is put in charge of these massive funds, avoiding established methods of checks and balances and circumventing the prescribed manner of implementing and executing of projects/schemes'.

In the case of Khalid Humayun v NAB, Justice Isa castigated the National Accountability Bureau for entering into a plea bargain with a government servant who was caught red handed with a large amount of cash.

He held that 'the acceptance of the plea bargain by the chairman runs counter to the stated object [of the NAB Ordinance] to ‘eradicate corruption and to hold accountable all those persons accused of such practice’; instead, the message that emanates from NAB is that, if one surrenders only the amount which was seized he will be let off.

The rising tide of insidious corruption devastates lives; this Court has repeatedly noted and warned about it, but it seems to no avail'.

Justice Isa was appointed by the Supreme Court as a single Judge Commission regarding terrorist attacks in Quetta on 8 August 2016 wherein 75 people (a majority of whom were lawyers) were killed.

Justice Isa submitted the resultant Quetta Commission Report on 13 December 2016.

In the judgment of Principal Public School Sangota v Sarbiland, the case of a girls school being attacked by terrorists was addressed by Justice Isa, condemning acts of terrorism by using Islamic injunctions regarding education and non violence.

In the Faizabad dharna judgment, Justice Isa addressed the constitutional right to free movement and the unconstitutional interference of intelligence agencies in Pakistan's political system.

His paternal grandfather, Qazi Jalaluddin, was a Hazara of the Sunni sect belonging to the Sheikh Ali tribe, and was a judge in Kandahar who was forced to flee Afghanistan at the end of the 19th century, in protest against the persecution of Hazaras during the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan.

Jalaluddin settled in Pishin in Baluchistan in what was then British India, and served as the prime minister of the princely state of Kalat.

Isa's paternal grandmother was a Pashtun of the Tareen tribe.

His mother was a social worker who belonged to a Muhajir family in Karachi, with roots in Lucknow.

Isa's father, Qazi Muhammad Isa, was a prominent Pakistan Movement activist and a close associate of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, serving as the president of All-India Muslim League's Balochistan chapter, and as the youngest member of Muslim League's Central Committee.