Honorable Chief Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin

Appointed Justice of the National High Court of Brazil (STJ) in 2006 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Professor Antonio Herman Benjamin was a career Public Prosecutor of the State of São Paulo for over two decades, where he headed the Environmental Protection Division. He is a former president of the Brazilian Fulbright Alumni Association and a member of the UN Secretary General Legal Expert Group on Crimes against the Environment. Justice Benjamin is the president of the Brazilian Environmental Forum of Judges (FONAMA) and Director of the L.L.M (Master) Program of the National Judicial Academy of Brazil (ENFAM).

Justice Benjamin was a professor at the Catholic University of Brasília School of Law and has been a visiting professor and lecturer at prestigious academic institutions around the world. He is the founder and emeritus editor-in-chief of the Brazilian Environmental Law Review, published by Thomson Reuters. He has co-drafted several major Brazilian statutes, including the 1990 Consumer Protection Code, the 1992 Anti-Corruption Act, the 1994 Competition Act, the 1998 Crimes Against the Environment Act, the 2006 Forest Concession Act, the 2006 Atlantic Forest Act, and the 2012 Forest Code. Professor Benjamin has authored, co-authored and edited over thirty books and articles in Brazil and abroad.

At the international level, Professor Benjamin served as co-chair of INECE – The International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement and president of the Environmental Committee of the Summit of Chief Justices of Ibero-America. He was the chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law − WCEL and currently he is secretary-general of the “International Advisory Council for Environmental Justice” of UNEP – The United Nations Environment Programme. He is the lead founder of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, the organization that brings together Supreme Court Justices and judges from around the world who that work with Environmental Law. During the 2012 Rio+20 Conference, he was coordinator of the UNEP World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability.

Justice Benjamin has received several awards, honours and other recognitions in Brazil and abroad. He is a Knight (Chevalier) of the National Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur) of France and a Commander (Commandeur) of the Order of King Leopold of Belgium. He is the recipient of the 2015 Elizabeth Haub Prize for Environmental Law, awarded by Stockholm University and considered the most prestigious international distinction conferred upon an environmental legal expert. He is a Goodwill Ambassador for Environmental Justice of the Organization of American States – OAS.