Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada (Urdu: شریف الدین پیرزادہ ‎سيد‎ ) NI, (born 12 June 1923, Burhanpur, Central Provincess) (British India) a direct descendant of Shaikh (Arabic: شيخ‎) Burhanuddin Raz-i-Ilahi (the Saint/Pir (Persian: پیر)) of the Shattar order in Burhanpur, who had, amongst others, Emperor Aurangzeb as his disciple), Barrister-at-Law (Lincoln's Inn) and a graduate in Law from Bombay University (British India) in 1945, Senior Advocate Supreme Court, is widely regarded as Pakistan's leading jurist and constitutional expert, playing a key role in constitutional continuity across several military coups. He is also considered an authority on the Pakistan independence movement.

Sharifuddin Pirzada has served a variety of senior government posts in his career. Until recently (March 2008) served as Honorary Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Law, Justice and Human Rights with the status of Senior Federal Minister.

• President International Law Association, Pakistan branch 1964-1967.

Senior posts with the Government of Pakistan

• Attorney General of Pakistan from 1965-1966. The youngest person ever to be appointed to that post and the longest serving.
• Foreign Minister of Pakistan from 1966-1968.
• Represented Pakistan in the Commonwealth Head of Government Conference in 1966.
• Moved Resolution 2253 of the United Nations General Assembly on the “status of Jerusalem” in 1967.
• Attorney General of Pakistan from 1968-1971.
• Represented Pakistan in the Commonwealth Law Ministers and Attorney Generals Conference 1971.
• President Afro-Asian Legal Consultative Committee, 1969.
• Attorney general for Pakistan from 1977-1985.
• Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs from 1979-1985.
• Caretaker Foreign Minister of Pakistan 1993.
• Appointed Honorary Roving Ambassador (with the status of Federal Minister) from 1995 –Current.
• Honorary Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive (CE) and Member (ex-officio) of the National Security Council of Pakistan (NSC) from 1999-2008.
• Honorary Senior Adviser to the Chief Executive (CE) on Foreign Affairs, Law, Justice and Human Rights (with the status of Senior Federal Minister) from 2002-2008.

Association with the Organisation of Islamic Conference

• Chairman of the Experts' Group for drafting the statue of the Islamic International Court of Justice.
• Served (elected unanimously) as Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference 1985-1988. (This is the highest post that any Pakistani has served in at any international organization)
• Member of Committee of Eminent Jurists to review the OIC Charter 2007.

Represented Pakistan before various international forums and tribunals including

• Rann of Kutch Case 1965.
• Counsel in the reference regarding Namibia (before the International Court of Justice) 1970.
• Pakistan’s complaint against India in the matter of overflights at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) 1971.
• Appointed Judge (ad hoc) International Court of Justice 2000, making him only the second Pakistani to serve there.

Association with the United Nations

• Member United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, 1972-1979 (Served as Chairman from 1977–1978).
• Chairman, Investigation and Working Group of Complaints of the United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, 1978-1979.
• Leader of the Pakistani delegation to the Law of Sea Conference 1978-1980.
• Elected (by the UN General Assembly) to the International Law Commission, 1981-1986.
• Leader of Pakistani Delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission, 1995.

Awards

• Awarded Nishan-i-Imtiaz in 1998

Publications

• Pakistan at a Glance, Bombay 1941.
• Jinnah on Pakistan, Bombay 1943.
• Leaders Correspondence with Jinnah.
• Evolution of Pakistan, Karachi 1962 (also published in Urdu and Arabic).
• Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies in Pakistan, Lahore 1966.
• The Pakistan Resolution and the historic Lahore Session. Islamabad 1970.
• Foundation of Pakistan (3 volumes), 1971.
• Some Aspects of Quaid-i-Azam’s Life 1978.
• Collected Works of Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah (3 volumes).
• Dissolution of Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Karachi 1985.

External links

• http://www.pirzada.com
• BBC Hardtalk interview of Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada

Political offices
Preceded by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto	Foreign Minister of Pakistan 1966 – 1968	Succeeded by Mian Arshad Hussain
Preceded by unknown	Attorney General of Pakistan 1968 – 1971	Succeeded by Yahya Bakhtiar
Preceded by Yahya Bakhtiar	2nd term 1977 – 1984	Succeeded by Aziz A Munshi
Preceded by Habib Chatty (Tunisia): (1979-1984)	Secretary General OIC 1985 – 1988	Succeeded by Dr. Hamid Algabid (Niger): (1989-1996)
Succeeded by Dr. Hamid Algabid (Niger): (1989-1996)