Obaidul Hassan takes oath as Chief Justice

Justice Obaidul Hassan has took an oath as the 24th Chief Justice of Bangladesh.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath to him at Bangabhaban at 11:07am on Tuesday (September 26).

Former Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique was present at the programme.

Besides, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, President’s wife Dr. Rebecca Sultana, cabinet members, advisors, deputy leader of the House, other former chief justices, judges of both Appellate and High Court Divisions, whips of the Parliament, chiefs of the three services, attorney general, editors and senior journalists, Supreme Court lawyers and Supreme Court Bar Association leaders were also present.

Hassan, a senior judge of the Appellate Division, has been appointed as the chief justice on September 12. He will replace Justice Hasan Foez Siddique as he retired on Monday (September 25).

A lawyer by background Obaidul Hassan was appointed as an additional judge of the Supreme Court’s High Court Division in 2009 while his appointment was confirmed as a permanent judge in 2011.

He was elevated as a judge in the apex Appellate Division on September 3, 2020.

According to UNB reports, Obaidul Hassan was born on January 1, 1959, at Chayashi village under Mohanganj upazila in Netrokona district to Dr Akhlaqul Hossain Ahmed and Begum Hosne Ara Hossain.

Hassan was appointed as the chairman of International Crimes Tribunal-2 on March 25, 2012 and in his capacity as the head of that court, also known as War Crimes Tribunal, until September 15, 2015, he pronounced 11 verdicts.

Obaidul Hassan is married to Nafisa Banu, who currently serves as Member (Finance) of Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority’s Board of Directors. The couple has a son, Barrister Ahmed Shafquat Hassan.

Obaidul Hassan’s younger brother Sajjadul Hassan is a parliament member (MP) from Netrokona-4 constituency while he previously served as a senior secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Obaidul Hassan initially obtained his graduate and postgraduate degrees in economics from Dhaka University prior to studying law and made his debut as a practitioner in the Dhaka District Court in 1986, and got his enrollment in the High Court in 1988.

He became an Appellate Division lawyer in 2005 and was appointed as an assistant attorney general and deputy attorney general for 5 years from 1996 to 2001.

As a Supreme Court judge Obaidul Hassan joined several international legal conferences in different countries including Hong Kong, Singapore, Netherlands and Argentina.

He led the Bangladesh delegation to an international crimes conference in Buenos Aires in 2015 and in the same year he attended a views exchange meeting with the International Crimes Court and the International Crimes Tribunal judges in The Hague.

Obaidul Hassan authored several books including ‘Obornonio Nirmomotar Chittro Ekatturer Buddhijibi Hotyakando O Onnanya’, ‘Bangabandhu Bangladesh Ekjon Juddho Shishur Golpo O Onnanya’ and ‘Bangabandhu, Rabindranath O Oshamprodayeek Bangladesh’.