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Dr. Sorour has been Speaker of the Egyptian People's Assembly since November 1990, and was first elected a member of that body in April 1989. He was President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council in 1994-1997 and also served as President of the Union of African Parliaments in 1990-1991. Following his studies at Cairo University (Bachelor of Law and later Doctor of Law), and at Michigan University, USA (Master of Comparative Law), Dr. Sorour started his professional life as Assistant Attorney General (1953-1959). He was a Lawyer at the Court of Appeal (1976). He has been Professor of the Faculty of Law at Cairo University since 1959, and was Dean of the Faculty (1983-85). He was Vice-President of the University (1985-1986) and President of the Higher Council of Universities in Egypt (1987-1990). Dr. Sorour was Minister of Education (1986-1990) and is a Member of the Political Bureau of the National Democratic Party. He also spent some years in the Egyptian diplomatic service, serving as Cultural Attaché at the Egyptian Embassy in Switzerland (1964), Cultural Adviser at the Egyptian Embassy in Paris (1965-1970), and Permanent Delegate of the League of Arab States to UNESCO (1972-1978). He was a Member of the Governing Board of the Graduate Institute for Criminal Science in Italy (1985-1993), Vice-Chairman of the International Council on Education, Geneva (1987-1989), Vice-President and Member of the Executive Board of UNESCO (1989-1993), Vice-Chairman of the International Association of Penal Law, Paris (since 1989), and President of the Egypt-Russia Friendship Association (since 1992). During his parliamentary career, he has been active in the field of basic freedoms and other human rights. He was a Member of the Egyptian Constitutional Committee in 1971, and Rapporteur of its Committee on Rights and Public Freedoms, President of the International Conference on Human Rights in Islamic Law (Sicily, 1979), President of the International Conference on Education (Geneva, 1989), President of the Egyptian Lawyers Union (1984-1992), President of the Egyptian Association of French-speaking Lawyers (since 1992), President of the Egyptian Association for Criminal Law (since 1989), and President of the Egyptian Association of Social and Cultural Development (since 1991). Among his awards are the Sciences and Arts Medal, first class, in 1964 and 1983, and the State Appreciation Award in Social Sciences in 1993. He was decorated as "Grand Officer" of the Pleiade by the International Assembly of French-speaking Parliamentarians in 1993. Dr. Sorour has directed over 30 doctoral theses in law and published many works on individual freedoms, criminal law and education, including a book on "Constitutional Legality and Human Rights". He was born on 9 July 1932, and is married with three children.
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