Oath of new chief justice to be held on Dec 28

The oath-taking ceremony of Bangladesh’s 26th chief justice will be held on Sunday, December 28. A gazette notification appointing the new chief justice will be issued ahead of the ceremony.

Senior public relations officer of the Law Ministry Rezaul Karim confirmed the information to Views Bangladesh on Tuesday, saying the oath is scheduled to take place at Bangabhaban on Sunday.

Under the Constitution, the incumbent chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed will formally retire on December 27, when he turns 67.

Meanwhile, multiple sources said Appellate Division Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury is likely to be appointed as the 26th chief justice of Bangladesh.

Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury obtained his LLB Honours and LLM degrees from the University of Dhaka and later completed another master’s degree in international law in the United Kingdom. He was enrolled as a lawyer in the judges’ court in 1985 and in the High Court Division of the Supreme Court in 1987.

During the BNP-led government, he was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court Division on August 27, 2003. Two years later, his appointment was made permanent. Most recently, on August 12, 2024, President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed him as a judge of the Appellate Division.