Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury takes oath as Bangladesh’s 26th Chief Justice at Bangabhaban in Dhaka. Photo : CA's Press Wing

DHAKA, Dec 28, 2025 (BSS) – Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court was sworn in today as the 26th Chief Justice (CJ) of Bangladesh.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin administered the oath of office during a ceremony at Durbar Hall of the Bangabhaban here. 

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus witnessed the ceremony.

Advisers to the interim government, judges, chiefs of the three services and Supreme Court (SC) lawyers, including SC Bar Association leaders, among others, were present at the oath-taking ceremony.

Cabinet Secretary Dr Sheikh Abdur Rashid conducted the oath-taking ceremony at about 10:35 am.

Earlier, President Mohammed Shahabuddin, under the authority bestowed upon him under Article 95 (1) of the Constitution, appointed Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury as the country’s 26th Chief Justice.

Earlier the law ministry issued a gazette notification on the appointment on December 23, saying the appointment will come into effect from the day Zubayer Rahman takes oath of office.

Meanwhile, the tenure of the country's 25th Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed ended on Saturday (December 27) as he went on retirement.

A lawyer by background Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury was enrolled in the District Judges' Court in 1985 and as an advocate of the High Court Division of the Supreme Court in 1987.

On August 27, 2003, he was appointed as an additional judge of the High Court Division. Two years later, he became a permanent judge of the High Court Division.

On August 13, 2024, he was elevated to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

After completing his LLB (Hons) and LLM degrees from Dhaka University, Chowdhury obtained another Master’s degree in international law from the UK.

Throughout his judicial career, Justice Chowdhury participated in a number of international conferences, seminars, training programmes and courses in Brussels, Belgium (1988); Prince Edward University, Canada (1990); Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2000, 2002 and 2006); Quebec, Canada (2001); Singapore (2007); and Nepal (2012).