In March 2007, over 70 lawyers, including Queen’s Counsels, Barristers, (including Barristers from 6 King’s Bench Walk) and solicitors, practising in England expressed their concerns about the actions of the government of Pakistan against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

In a Petition signed under the signature of Sibghat Kadri QC , (the Chairman of the committee, of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and Justice in Pakistan (LCHRJP)), the lawyers including Cherie Booth QC ,expressed their solidarity with their professional colleagues in Pakistan and emphasized the need for an impartial, politically-independent judiciary in Pakistan. The lawyers further supported the Chief Justice in his struggle for the Rule of Law and highlighted the importance, that the government of Pakistan should allow the Chief Justice a free, fair and public trial.

The signed petition was sent to the President of the Pakistan Bar Council, to lawyers defending the Chief Justice and also to the President of Pakistan who had removed the Chief Justice pending the outcome of a reference to the Supreme Judicial Council.

The contents of the petition read as follows:
“We are concerned about the actions of the Government of Pakistan against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
“Reports of the humiliating treatment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan are causing great international unease, and are not in the interest of the Government of Pakistan, and lower the international esteem of Pakistan.
“We totally support the struggle for the restoration of fundamental rights and for the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan.
“We wish to show our solidarity for our professional colleagues in Pakistan, who are at the forefront of upholding the Constitution and the rights of the people of Pakistan, whose welfare and security are under threat.
“We call upon the government of Pakistan to allow the Chief Justice a fair, free and public trial.
“We also call upon the government of Pakistan to endorse the need for an impartial, politically independent judiciary, whose role is to uphold the Constitution without fear or favour.
“We would like to send a message of goodwill to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and assure him that the international legal community supports the stance that he has taken in support of the Constitution, and we hope that the government will listen to their own people, and the voices of others outside Pakistan.”