Former law minister Shafique Ahmed dies

Former Law Minister and senior Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Shafique Ahmed has passed away at the age of 88.

He died at around 5:30pm on Sunday while undergoing treatment at Bangladesh Medical College Hospital. His son, Barrister Mabub Shafiq, confirmed the news to Jago News.

Family sources said he had been admitted to the hospital on April 11 with liver complications.

Shafique Ahmed served as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs during the tenure of the Bangladesh Awami League government from 2009 to 2014.

Born on July 16, 1937, in Cumilla, he completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geography from the University of Dhaka in 1958 and 1959. He later earned an LLB from the same university in 1963, followed by an LLM from King's College London in 1967. In the same year, he was called to the Bar from Lincoln's Inn.

He began his legal career after being enrolled as an advocate of the High Court in 1967 and was later recognised as a senior advocate of the Appellate Division in 1989.

Alongside his legal practice, Shafique Ahmed also contributed to legal education. He served as a part-time lecturer in the Law Department at the University of Dhaka from 1969 to 1973 and later as Principal of City Law College, Dhaka, from 1973 to 2005. He was also a member of the university’s Senate.

He was elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association twice – for the terms 1999-2000 and 2008-2009 – and also served as vice-president of the Bangladesh Bar Council.

In 1969, he married educationist and social activist Mahfuza Khanam, who passed away in 2025. He is survived by three children.