Honorable Chief Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin
President of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment, Federative Republic of Brazil
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 the president of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment (GJIE) − the organization that brings together Supreme Court Justices and judges from around the world who work with Environmental Law − and Secretary-General of the “International Advisory Council for Environmental Justice” of UNEP – The United Nations Environment Programme.
Justice Benjamin is also president of the Brazilian Environmental Forum of Judges (FONAMA) and former Director of the L.L.M (Master degree) Programme of the National
Judicial Academy of Brazil (ENFAM). Justice Benjamin is a former president of the IUCN
World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), the Brazilian Fulbright Alumni
Association and member of the UN Secretary General Legal Expert Group on Crimes
against the Environment.
Professor Benjamin has served as co-chair of INECE – The International Network for
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, president of the Environmental
Committee of the Summit of Chief Justices of Ibero-America. During the 2012 Rio+20
Conference, he was the coordinator of the UNEP World Congress on Justice, Governance
and Law for Environmental Sustainability Justice. 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, the oldest publication of its kind in Latin America. He has codrafted 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. He has authored, coauthored and edited over thirty books and articles in Brazil and abroad.
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. In 2020, Brazilian scientists named after him a newly discovered species of orchid from the Amazon Rain Forest – Bulbophyllum antoniobenjaminii.