Soli Sorabjee was a former Attorney-General of India who held prominent positions in a multitude of national and international legal and human-rights related organisations, serving inter alia as President of the Delhi-based United Lawyers’ Association and Honorary Life President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association. He was appointed a Special Rapporteur to the UN Human Rights Commission in 1997, a member of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities in 1998, and Personal Envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reporting on the human-rights situation in East Timor in 1999. He also served as a member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. He acted in several cases of constitutional importance in the High Courts and the Supreme Court of India, particularly cases relating to freedom of expression, freedom of the press, the independence and accountability of the judiciary and judicial activism. The national honour of the Padma Vibhushan was conferred on him in 2002.