Executive team
Yenny Vega Cárdenas
Presidente
Yenny Vega Cardenas is a lawyer in Quebec and Colombia with a Master’s degree in Business Law and a PhD in Water Law. She is a member of the ONU expert Network, Harmony with Nature.
She teaches public international and comparative law in many canadian universities, Juridical aspects of Water Management at the Polytechnique Montréal and is a visiting professor at numerous universities in Latin America. As a researcher in the Global Justice & Human rights project, she has conducted extensive research in the field of water law and the human right to water and sanitation, which are essential to the realization of all human rights. She has published several scientific articles in English, French and Spanish and is often invited to participate in national and international conferences related to her expertise.
Very involved in social issues, she has participated in various public hearings in Quebec related to the environment and natural resources. Her book “La construction du statut juridique de l’eau au Canada et au Mexique” examines the influence of national and international agents in the development of water law in North America. She has also published an article on issues related to international arbitration and water that highlights the difficulty of reconciling international trade rules and the need to protect human rights and the environment.
Inès Benadda
Vice-Présidente
Inès Benadda graduated from the Université de Montréal in 2020 with a Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.). Recipient of the Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for youth in 2017, her actions within the Faculty during her degree, namely with the Indigenous Law and Environmental Law committees, reflect her keen interest in the environmental cause.
In the spring of 2018, she completed a summer school in Costa Rica in international and comparative climate change law, where she was able to delve deeper into the rights of Nature, which is of particular interest to her. Her internship at the Centre québécois de l’environnement (2018-2019) allowed her to perfect her legal knowledge of Quebec environmental law.
Inès deeply believes that there is no better time than now to act on environmental issues, and it is in this perspective vice-president of the International Observatory of Nature’s Rights.
Board of directors
Daniel Turp
Head of assemblies and B.D.
Daniel Turp (www.danielturp.quebec) is a graduate of the University of Montreal and the University of Cambridge and holds a doctorate (summa cum laude) from the University of Law, Economics and Social Sciences of Paris (Paris II). In 1989, he earned the prestigious Directed Studies diploma from the Academy of International Law in The Hague.
Mr. Turp is a professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Montreal. He teaches international public law, international and constitutional human rights law, and advanced constitutional law. He is president of the Association Québécoise de Droit Constitutionnel, the board of directors of the Société Québécoise de Droit International, and the Research Institute on Self-Determination of Peoples and National Independence (IRAI).
Professor Turp was elected member of the House of Commons of Canada where he represented the Bloc Québécois and the riding of Beauharnois-Salaberry between 1997 and 2000. He was also elected member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the Parti Québécois and the riding of Mercier between 2003 and 2008.
He is the author of several books and articles on constitutional and international law, including La Constitution Québécoise.
Professor Turp was elected member of the House of Commons of Canada where he represented the Bloc Québécois and the riding of Beauharnois-Salaberry between 1997 and 2000. He was also elected member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the Parti Québécois and the riding of Mercier between 2003 and 2008.
He is the author of several books and articles on constitutional and international law, including La Constitution Québécoise.
Alexandra Baer
Co-head of communications Relations with First Nations
Alexandra Baer has obtained a bachelor degree in Law from the Université de Montréal. She joined the Observatory in 2019.
In 2019, she completed a summer school in Costa Rica concerning individual and collective human rights, environmental law, and international and comparative law of indigenous peoples. This experience has made her more aware of the relationship between human beings and nature, which is why she is committed to the International Observatory of Nature’s Rights.
Kayley Laura Lata
Co-head of communications Head of political affairs
Kayley Laura Lata has obtained a bachelor degree in law from the University of Montreal. She joined the Observatory in 2019.
She believes that law is an instrument of social change and that daring initiatives such as the St. Lawrence River Alliance challenge the status quo for a better protection of the environment.