River Rights

A discussion around River Rights with Britain’s foremost Nature Rights Lawyer, Mónica Feria-Tinta and Julia Leino of ERCS.
About this Event

Join a discussion around River Rights with Britain’s foremost Nature Rights Lawyer, Mónica Feria-Tinta, author of ‘A Barrister for the Earth’ and Julia Leino of the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS).

Mónica Feria-Tinta is a British-Peruvian barrister specialising in Public International Law. She has been described as one of ‘the most daring, innovative and creative lawyers’ in the United Kingdom. She was The Times’ first “Lawyer of the Week” in 2025, ‘Barrister of the Year’ finalist at The Lawyer Awards 2025. Can a planet have legal rights? Could it be defended in a court of law? How do we redefine a ‘right to life’?

Monica writes, 'A revolution is taking place. Around the world, ordinary people are turning to courts, seeking justice for environmental wrongs. At the forefront of this movement, pioneering barrister Mónica Feria-Tinta advocates not only for people, but also for those who have no voice: for rivers, forests and endangered species.'

Mónica will be in conversation with Julia Leino of the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS), Scotland's only free legal advice service on environmental and related planning law.

Julia Leino is the Policy & Communications Officer at the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS). ERCS is an environmental law charity that assists the public and civil society to understand and exercise their rights in environmental law and to protect the environment. ERCS operates a free legal advice service and carries out advocacy to improve environmental rights and access to justice. Julia is currently exploring whether giving nature legal rights could improve environmental protection in Scotland, and collaborating with community groups on the Clean Up Scotland's Sewage campaign to tackle sewage pollution."

Chaired by writer Louise Welsh.