Harvard Law School gives its highest honour to Pakistani judge

Friday, November 21, 2008

Pakistan's embattled Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was conferred with Harvard Law School's "Medal of Freedom" for his struggle for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary on Wednesday in Boston, Massachusetts.

In the past, this award has been given to the team which litigated Brown v. Board of Education, and to Nelson Mandela.

The New York City Bar Association granted him an honorary membership at a ceremony attended by Chaudhry on Monday, recognising him as a "symbol of the movement for judicial and lawyer independence in Pakistan."

In 2007, Chaudhry received the "Lawyer of the Year" award from New York-based periodical The National Law Journal.

On November 3, 2007, then-president Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and suspended the constitution. Soldiers of the Pakistan Army entered the Supreme Court of Pakistan and arrested Chaudhry along with seven other judges.

Musharraf replaced Justice Chaudhry with Abdul Hameed Dogar as the Chief Justice of Pakistan under Musharaf's Provisional Constitutional Order issued that day. Chaudhry then spent several months under house arrest.

Harvard Law School established its "Medal of Freedom" as its highest honour, to recognise individual efforts "to uphold the legal system’s fundamental commitment to freedom, justice, and equality."

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Related news

"Pakistan opposition parties form coalition" — Wikinews, February 21, 2008
"Wikinews' overview of the year 2007" — Wikinews, December 31, 2007
"Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry reinstated as Chief Justice of Pakistan" — Wikinews, July 21, 2007

Sources

"Harvard confers Medal of Freedom on deposed CJP" — The Nation, November 20, 2008
Matt Hutchins. "Pakistan's Chief Justice Receives Medal of Freedom" — Harvard Law Record, November 20, 2008
Masood Haider. "Iftikhar receives freedom medal: Help for Pakistan’s judiciary sought" — Dawn News, November 19, 2008
Press Release: "Pakistan's ousted chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudry to receive honorary membership at the New York City Bar" — Association of the Bar of the City of New York, November 17, 2008
"The National Law Journal Names Pakistan Chief Justice Chaudhry as 2007 Lawyer of the Year" — BNET, December 12, 2007
Press Release: "Pakistani chief justice to receive Harvard Law School 'Medal of Freedom'" — Harvard University, November 14, 2007

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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

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Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

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