Chief Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin
KEYNOTE: Chief Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, is a globally recognised jurist and environmental law expert from Brazil. He is a Justice of the National High Court of Brazil (Supremo Tribunal de Justiça) and the Founding President of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment. He has served as Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law and is a member of the UN International Advisory Council for Environmental Justice. Chief Justice Benjamin has played a leading role in advancing environmental jurisprudence and judicial education worldwide, including through his work with the United Nations, the Organisation of American States, and various judicial networks. He has authored numerous scholarly works and is a key architect of Brazil’s environmental legal framework. His career reflects a lifelong commitment to the rule of law, environmental protection, and Indigenous and community rights within sustainable development frameworks.
The Honourable Mark Cooper KC
PANELIST: The Honourable Mark Cooper KC is a distinguished jurist of Ngāti Maahanga (Waikato-Tainui) descent. He studied law at the University of Auckland, graduating with LLB (Hons) and MJur (Dist), and receiving the Fowlds Prize in 1979. After beginning his legal career with Butler White & Hanna (later Simpson Grierson), he became a barrister sole in 1997 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2000. He acted for Waikato-Tainui on key resource management matters before being appointed to the High Court in 2004, the Court of Appeal in 2014, and serving as its President from 2022 until his retirement in 2024. Justice Cooper chaired the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Building Failures from the Canterbury Earthquakes (2011–2012) and led the New Zealand Council of Legal Education (2018–2024), during which time tikanga Māori was made a compulsory component of the LLB curriculum across Aotearoa’s universities.
Horiana Irwin-Easthope
PANELIST: Horiana Irwin-Easthope (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Putaanga, Rakaipaaka, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a critical legal thinker and advocate for transformational change that recognises the place of whānau, hapū, and iwi in Aotearoa. She is the founder of Whāia Legal, a kaupapa Māori law firm, and has previously worked at Russell McVeagh and Kāhui Legal. With a focus on public law, Horiana regularly appears in all levels of the New Zealand courts, including as lead counsel in the Supreme Court. She holds a Bachelor of Laws, a Bachelor of Arts in Māori Resource Management, and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School (2014). Known for her strategic approach and commitment to high-quality legal advice, she balances her professional work with whānau life alongside her partner Scott (Hāmoa/Samoa) and their son Rōpata Te Kauru-o-Te-Rangi Easthope.