A devout Muslim, Shirin Ebadi has long argued for an interpretation of Islamic law consistent with democracy and equality before the law. The first woman to serve as a judge in Iran, she was President of the City Court of Tehran from 1971 until the revolution of 1979, when the new Islamic regime barred women from serving as judges. For many years, the theocratic government would not even permit Dr. Ebadi to practice law.

When she was finally granted a license to practice law, she courageously took on a series of human rights cases that set her at odds with the conservative authorities. She has championed writers and journalists in freedom of expression cases, and exposed conspirators behind the murder of dissident students and intellectuals. In one of her most famous cases, she represented a mother whose child was taken from her and died of abuse in the home of the custodial stepmother. Against fierce resistance, Dr. Ebadi led a successful campaign for the passage of Iran's first law criminalizing violence against children.

Valuing her own faith as she does, Dr. Ebadi is also a committed proponent of religious freedom and has bravely defended the rights of Iran's Baha'i religious minority. The government has jailed her repeatedly, but her courage has never wavered. In 2003, she became the first citizen of Iran to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.