Hisham Bastawisi

Position: Former vice-president, Court of Cassation

Biography: Hisham Bastawisi, aged 59, is former vice-president of the Court of Cassation. In 2005, Bastawisi was part of a group that called for the independence of the judiciary and judicial supervision in Egypt.

He has also called for international monitoring of elections. As a result of his anti-government position, Bastawisi was forced into exile in 2008. He returned to Egypt when the political uprising started in January 2011.

Bastawisi was one of the first high-profile figures to come out against Hosni Mubarak and he called for the military to take control after the uprisings began. Bastawisi has said he is in favour of renegotiating much of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

He opposes any amendment to the second article of the Egyptian constitution, which states that the sharia (Islamic) law is the basis for legislation.

Contact: www.hccourt.gov.eg