Haider Rasul Mirza
Advocate Supreme Court of Pakistan
• Lincoln’s Inn, Barrister
• Pg. Dip. Prof. Legal Skills, Inns of Court school of Law (ICSL), City University, London
• LLB. (Hons), University of London
• BSc. (Hons) (Econ), Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)
Barrister Haider Rasul Mirza completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Professional and Legal Skills at City Law School, City University London, and was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in October 2006.
Barrister Mirza has a LLB degree from the University of London and a BSc (Hons) degree in Economics and Social Sciences from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He started his career in 2004 as an apprentice to former Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and former Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik and remained associated with his chamber before Justice Malik’s elevation to the Bench in 2009. During his apprenticeship, he assisted the senior counsel in criminal trials pertaining to homicide and white-collar crime developing a special interest in anti-corruption and accountability laws.
Barrister Mirza represents both businesses and individuals in criminal and civil cases. He is currently defending multiple high-profile NAB cases before the Accountability Courts in Lahore. He is also handling defamation cases in Islamabad District Courts involving senior political figures.
He has represented a notable client before the UN Security Council’s ISIL & Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee and presented a de-listing request to the Committee’s Ombudsperson.
In 2021, Barrister Mirza assisted the Supreme Court of Pakistan as amicus curiae, contributing to a landmark judgment Safia Bano case (PLD 2021 SC 488) on post-conviction mental illness. The ruling established that death sentences can be commuted if the convict cannot understand the punishment due to mental incapacity. This progressive decision has been recognized by United Nations human rights experts.In 2022, he assisted the High Court in clarifying the parameters of penal provisions (section 489-F PPC) with regards to corporate criminal liability arising from dishonoured cheques. Recently, in another notable case, he contributed to the statutory interpretation of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention and Punishment) Act, 2022, helping to clarify the prosecutorial procedures and respective jurisdiction of the police and the Federal Investigation Agency under the Act.
Barrister Mirza has several reported judgments to his credit ranging from constitutional matters to appeals against death sentence. He also engages in advisory work and is currently working as legal advisor to business concerns in the public and private sector.
He has been involved in academia for over fifteen years, teaching Criminal Law for the University of London’s international programme and, since 2022, Criminal Procedure at LUMS.