Khurshid Drabu

Khurshid Drabu Varrier (8 March 1946 – 20 April 2018) was an English judge, law lecturer and Muslim community leader. He was the first Muslim to be a judge in Britain, serving on immigration and asylum tribunals.

Career In November 1971, he moved to England with £3 in his pocket and became a law lecturer. He was called to the bar in 1977. He served as an advocate in the high court in Kashmir between 1978 and 1980 before returning to England to specialise in immigration law.

In 1987, he became deputy director of the Immigration Advisory Service.

His judicial career started with serving as a magistrate for 12 years. He served for twelve years as president of the Mental Health Review Tribunal. In 1996, he was appointed to the immigration and asylum tribunal. He became vice president of the tribunal in 2000 and served there until 2007. He still heard cases after retirement in the upper-tier immigration tribunal. He was also a visiting lecturer at the University of Middlesex in the law department. They had four children, daughters Aliya, Farrah and Zayba, and son Hamza. At the time of his death, he was living in Winchester.

Khurshid Drabu died on 20 April 2018.