Colin Gonsalves is a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India, and the Founder of Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), India’s leading public interest law group. Under his leadership, HRLN developed into a national organization with over 200 lawyers and paralegals operating out of 28 offices throughout India, and has brought over 200 public interest cases in the Indian courts.

Gonsalves has himself argued many precedent-setting cases regarding economic, social and cultural rights. His assertion of a constitutional right to food led the Indian Supreme Court to direct unions and state governments to implement several food security schemes. In addition, he has developed the Indian People’s Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights (IPT), an independent organization directed by retired Supreme Court and High Court Judges that investigates human rights violations and environmental degradation.

Gonsalves won the 2004 International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association, and the “Mother Teresa Memorial Award” for Social Justice in 2010. Mr. Gonsalves will be in residence at Roosevelt House for the week of May 12-18, 2013.