Iftikhar Chaudhry: Chief Justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court

Why We Picked Him: He was serving as an important counterweight to executive power in Pakistan. After opposing Pres. Gen. Musharraf's declaration of a state of emergency in 2007, he was deposed and jailed.

Report Card: Since his reinstatement in 2009, Chaudhry has been tough on Pakistan's politicians: in December, the Supreme Court revoked an amnesty that thousands of politicians had received from corruption charges. To popular acclaim, the cases against them were reopened, reaching all the way through the cabinet up to the president, Asif Ali Zardari. Chaudhry has also gone head-to-head with Zardari over the appointment of a justice to the Supreme Court and come out the winner.