Daily Times

Justice Mussarat Hilali has made history in Pakistan by becoming only the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court since the country’s independence.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial administered the oath to Justice Hilali at the Supreme Court in a ceremony attended by esteemed judges, legal professionals, and the Attorney General of Pakistan. This appointment brings the total number of judges on the Supreme Court to 16, with one vacancy remaining.

Justice Hilali, who was previously the first female Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, will serve as a Supreme Court judge for three years before retiring. Her tenure is also significant because she is the first woman to serve as Chief Justice of any high court in the country. In 2022, Justice Ayesha A Malik became the first woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Justice Hilali was born in Peshawar on August 8, 1961, and received her law degree from Khyber Law College, Peshawar University. She began her legal career as an Advocate of District Courts in 1983, later becoming an Advocate of the High Court in 1988 and an Advocate of Pakistan’s Supreme Court in 2006.

As a female legal professional, Justice Hilali has broken barriers and achieved numerous milestones throughout her career. She held a number of prestigious positions, including being the first female office-bearer elected as secretary of the bar from 1988 to 1989 and serving as Vice President on two occasions from 1992 to 1994. She was also the General Secretary from 1997 to 1998, and from 2007 to 2009, she was the first female to be elected twice as an executive member of the Supreme Court Bar Association.

Justice Hilali’s achievements go beyond her legal career. From November 2001 to March 2004, she was the first female Additional Advocate General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and she later became the first female Chairperson of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Environmental Protection Tribunal. She also played an important role as the first female ombudsman for workplace harassment protection.

Justice Hilali was confirmed as a permanent judge of the Peshawar High Court on March 13, 2014, following her initial appointment as an additional judge on March 26, 2013. She was later confirmed as the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court on May 12, 2023, after taking the oath as acting Chief Justice on April 1, 2023.