On 15 July, 2022 during the online Global Symposium on the Global Economy, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Law, the Weeramantry International Memorial Commission, with the blessings of the Weeramantry family was delighted to announce the first Laureates of the prestigious International Justice Award in honour of His Excellency Judge CG Weeramantry: Hon Justice Antonio Benjamin of Brazil, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema of Tanzania, and Prof. Dr. Nicolaas Jan Schrijver.
Hon. Justice Benjamin is global leader for judicial and legal capacity-building, awareness, and action on environmental protection, and as Judge of the National High Court of Brazil, he continues to resolve disputes concerning nature, sustainability and all peoples, and to advance international justice.
Executive Secretary Mrema is a global executive and diplomatic leader, driving consensus and compliance on key international biodiversity commitments and obligations, to preserve and protect our precious flora and fauna, and contribute to its sustainable utilization.
Former ILA and Institut de Droit International President Professor Em. Dr. Schrijver, not only teaches and shapes the discourse on sustainable natural resource management and international law, but also implements this outlook and vision for many peoples in his capacity as a State Councillor of the Netherlands and member of the EU Scientific Council on Climate Change.
The Weeramantry International Justice Award is granted to distinguished senior-level jurists whose lifeworks, intellect and character offer the highest possible credit to the memory of his Excellency the late Judge Christopher Gregory Weeramantry, recipient of the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education, Right Livelihood Award Laureate and former Vice-President of the International Court of Justice. They honour his Excellency’s international legacy, including his concern for the interests of current and future generations, his commitment to international law, peace and sustainable development, and his global humanism and leadership in the law.
Weeramantry International Justice Awards PDF
Hon Justice Antonio Benjamin (Brazil)
Hon Justice Antonio Benjamin of the National High Court of Brazil is Secretary-General of the UN International Advisory Council for the Advancement of Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability, and President and lead founder 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 on emerging issues in environmental law. He is also a Professor at Yale University where he teaches Comparative Environmental Law and Biodiversity Law and has authored many notable books and articles on these challenges, as well as recipient of the CISDL 2021 Legal Specialist Award for Biodiversity among other honours. He has served as Chair of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law, and also senior Assistant Attorney General of the State of São Paulo, as founder of the Brazilian Consumer Law and Policy Institute, and as founder of the Law for a Green Planet Institute in Brazil, among other highly distinguished contributions to global justice.
UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (Tanzania)
UN Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Secretary, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema is the first African woman to serve as Executive Secretary for the Convention on Biological Diversity at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Previously, she was the Director of the Law Division at UNEP, Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division and Acting Director of the Corporate Services Division, where she led many successful, indeed world-changing, endeavours. For her inspiring leadership, she was honoured with the Nicholas Robinson Award for Excellence in Environmental Law in 2021 by the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL). This is in addition to have been named in 2021 as one of the 100 most influential African Women by AvanceMedia and among the most distinguished Change Makers: Women in Africa for 2020/2021 by Humanitarian Awards Global.
Prof. Dr. Nicolaas Jan Schrijver (Netherlands)
Prof. Dr. Nicolaas Jan Schrijver is Professor Emeritus of Public International Law at Leiden Law School and serves as State Councillor on the Council of State of the Netherlands. He has served as President of the International Law Association and the Institut de droit international among other roles, as Academic Director at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden University, and as Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Royal Netherlands Academy, as Senator and Vice-Chair of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Under his extremely distinguished and tireless leadership over the course of many years, together with Judge Weeramantry, the Rt Hon Kamal Hossain and others, the deeply influential ILA 2002 New Delhi Principles of International Law on Sustainable Development, and the 2020 ILA Kyoto Guidelines on the Role of International Law in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources for Development, among others, have been developed with enormous impact for peace, justice and sustainability, worldwide.
