His father was a judge with the tribunal de commerce and his mother raised him and his two brothers.
In 1967, he became a militant of the Jeunesse communiste révolutionnaire [fr], a Trotskyist youth organization.
In 1972, as a law student, he became involved with Freemasonry, the Fédération du Droit Humain, and the Grand Orient de France.
On 12 June 2000, he succeeded Henri Leclerc as President of the Human Rights League.
[2] On 27 January 2014, Le Monde alleged that Tubiana and others were guilty of tax evasion in Switzerland with HSBC Private Bank as part of Swiss Leaks.