President Mohammed Shahabuddin yesterday appointed Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed as the 25th chief justice of Bangladesh.

Justice Refaat was the senior-most judge of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court, Law Secretary Md Golam Sarwar told The Daily Star.

The president has made the appointment under article 95(1) of the constitution.

The law ministry issued a gazette notification, saying the appointment will come into effect from the day he takes oath of office.

The president will administer the oath to the new chief justice at the Bangabhaban around noon today, Sarwar said.

Justice Refaat was born on December 28, 1958. His father Syed Ishtiaq Ahmed was a prominent jurist and an attorney general of Bangladesh. His mother Sufia Ahmed was the first female national professor, a language hero, Ekushey Padak recipient, and the chairperson of the department of Islamic History and Culture at Dhaka University.

Justice Refaat obtained LLB (hons) with first class, first in order of merit from Dhaka University, BA and MA from Wadham College, University of Oxford, UK, MA in Law and Diplomacy and PhD from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA.

He was a Ford Foundation fellow in Public International Law at the Fletcher School.

He worked at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Hong Kong and Washington, DC and as a lawyer in London.

In 1984, he became a lawyer of the district courts. He became a lawyer of the High Court Division in 1986 and a lawyer of the Appellate Division in 2002.

He was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court Division on April 27, 2003, and he was made a permanent judge of the division on April 27, 2005.

Justice Ahmed is a founder member of Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, Brazil.

He participated in international roundtables, workshops, conventions, study tours and courses held in Germany, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, Nepal, Italy, Singapore, Thailand, USA, Brazil and Myanmar.