Justice Mustafa Kamal

Justice Mustafa Kamal

Son of the legendary folk singer of the sub-continent Abbas Uddin Ahmed, Justice Mustafa Kamal was born on 30th December 1934 at Kuchbihar, India, to a dignified Muslim family. His name “Mustafa Kamal,” was chosen for him by the National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam after his birth.

Justice Mustafa Kamal had a brilliant academic and outstanding legal and judicial career. He demonstrated excellence in each and every stage of his career. He was in seventh position on the Merit List in the Matriculation Examination from the Dhaka Collegiate School in 1948. He also secured fifth position on the Merit List in the Intermediate Arts (IA) Examination at Jagannath College in 1950. He obtained BA (Hons) and MA degrees in Political Science from the University of Dhaka in 1953 and 1954 respectively, securing the first position in the first class. He then went to the United Kingdom, availing himself of a merit scholarship for higher studies from the Government of the then Pakistan. He successfully completed a Master’s Degree at the London School of Economics (LSE), University of London, a world renowned institution. He then completed the Bar-at-Law course and was called to the English Bar by the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in 1959.

On his return from abroad, Justice Mustafa Kamal started practicing law in the then Dhaka High Court and Supreme Court of Pakistan and developed a flourishing legal practice. He was a part-time lecturer in law at the University of Dhaka from 1961 to 1968. He was appointed Additional Attorney General of Bangladesh in 1976 and then Advocate General of Bangladesh in 1977.

Justice Mustafa Kamal was elevated to the position of Judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh in 1979. He was appointed a Judge of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in 1989. He was appointed the tenth Chief Justice of Bangladesh on 1st June 1999, and he served in this position until the end of December 1999. Later, after his retirement, Justice Mustafa Kamal was appointed Chair of the Bangladesh Law Commission (a rank and position equivalent to the Chief Justice of Bangladesh) on 6th December 2004, and he served in this position until 5th December 2007.

Justice Mustafa Kamal participated in many international seminars and conferences, representing Bangladesh in the United Nations. He was one of the authors of India-Bangladesh Ganges Water Sharing Treaty that was signed in 1977. He was deeply connected in the field of law for a long period of more than four decades, both as a lawyer and a judge, and contributed enormously to the dispensation of fair justice. He wrote extensively and gave scholarly speeches of high quality on a variety of subjects. His noted two books are: Bangladesh Constitution, Trends and Issues in English and Amar Kichhu Bola in Bangla. Justice Mustafa Kamal was a scholar of exceptional standing who devoted his life to continuous study and sophisticated thought in the realm of legal literature and jurisprudence. He was always vocal in establishing the rule of law in the country and keeping unharmed the independence of the judiciary.

Justice Mustafa Kamal was a great judge of scholarly merit and a great thinker on question of legal theology. He imparted wisdom, creativity and progressiveness to the judiciary for more than 20 years. His judgments remain as exemplary documents to his successors, standing out both in style and content. His legal activities and judicial pronouncements are still treated with reverence. His outstanding judicial career and landmark judgments have made him well known within the legal arena. Through his bravery and boldness, he earned a place for himself in legal history.

Justice Mustafa Kamal was a pioneer in establishing and promoting the system of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). In 2003, he was appointed as a Consultant for ADR by the then Government, and he taught modules on ADR in 64 districts of the country. He may, therefore, be called the “founder of the ADR” in Bangladesh. He attended various international seminars and symposia held at prestigious locations and gave speeches on ADR.

Former Chief Justice of Bangladesh Justice Mustafa Kamal died of a cardiac arrest at his residence at Gulshan in the capital on Monday, 5th January 2015. At the age of 81.He was laid to rest at the City’s Azimpur Graveyard.