1st International Rights of Nature Tribunal – Quito

“We the people assume the authority to conduct an International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature. We will investigate cases of environmental destruction, which violate the Rights of Nature.”  Prosecutor for the Earth, Ramiro Avila declared during the opening of the world’s first Tribunal on the Rights of Nature and Mother Earth.  The Tribunal held its inaugural session on Friday, January 17, 2014, in Quito, Ecuador.   Dr. Vandana Shiva, internationally renowned author, physicist, and environmental activist presided over the historic Tribunal together with nine other distinguished judges from seven countries and five continents. Dr. Shiva presented the closing ruling to admit all the nine cases of alleged violations of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, adopted in Cochabamba on April 20, 2010, and, for Ecuadorian cases, of the Ecuadorian Constitution. The Tribunal will be a permanent platform for hearing and judging cases from around the world.   In December 2014, the second International Rights of Nature Tribunal was convened in Lima, Peru parallel to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.  The next Tribunal is scheduled for Paris, France December 4-5.  

 Tribunal Judges

Dr. Vandana Shiva, President Navdana, India

Tom Goldtooth, Dine’/Dakota, Director, Indigenous Environmental Network, USA Climate Change Case

Alberto Acosta, economist and former President of the Constituent Assembly, Ecuador Yasuni ITT

Elsie Monge, human rights activist and president of CEDHU y FIDH, Ecuador

Tantoo Cardinal, actress (e.g., Dances with Wolves) from the Tar Sands of Canada Hydraulic Fracking

Atossa Soltani, Director of Amazon Watch, USA BP Oil Spill

Blanca Chancoso, Kichwa leader, Ecuador GMOs and Transgenics

Julio César Trujillo, constitutional lawyer for Yasunidos, Ecuador Chevron/Texaco

Cormac Cullinan, lawyer and author (Wild Law), Earth Democracy Coop, South Africa Great Barrier Reef

Enrique Viale, environmental lawyer, Argentina

Prosecutor on Behalf of Mother Earth and Tribunal Secretariat

Ramiro Avila, Prosecutor for the Earth Ecuador

Natalia Greene, Secretariat, Ecuador

Opening Expert Statements

Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca – Oklahoma USA

Patricia Gualinga, Kichwa – Sarayaku, Ecuador

Case Presentations

British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill	GMOs and Transgenics
Climate Change	Great Barrier Reef, Australia
Chevron/Texaco	Mirador Open Pit Mine
Defenders of Nature	Yasuni-ITT
Hydraulic Fracking (USA)

Rights of Nature Press Conference – Quito 17 January 2014

View Videos of Press Conference   The story of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and the Ethics Tribunal.   Report from the Centre of the Earth ~ International Rights of Nature Tribunal   For videos of the Summit, visit 2014 Global Rights of Nature Summit. Read more about the objectives and outcomes of the Summit at Global Rights of Nature Summit Outcomes.   For a simple primer on tribunals, visit People’s Tribunal versus Judicial Tribunal. Many thanks to Silver Don Cameron and Chris Beckett of The Green Interview and to Siegmund Thies and Norie Huddle for video clips from the Summit and Tribunal!