Hon Justice Kashim Zannah was appointed Judge of the High Court of Borno State, Nigeria in 1997 and Chief Judge in the year 2006. He siits on the boards of several international bodies in the field of law and justice, like the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ), International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (ISRCL} and the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute (CJEI).

 He was awarded the Medal of the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (ISRCL} in 2012 and the United States National Centre for State Courts (NCSC) Distinguished Service Award in 2013.

He partnered with UNODC in undertaking evidence based judicial reform in Borno State starting with a baseline assessment in the year 2002 and second assessment in 2007. A few measures were implemented until a third assessment, planned for the year 2012 was interrupted by the Boko Haram insurgency.

He is currently also engaged in a major national judicial reform undertaking, as Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC) Judicial Information Technology Committee (JITCOM) that is in the process of automating court processes in Nigeria.

He was reappointed as member of National Judicial Council in 2021.