Monica Feria-Tinta

Twenty Essex

Though relatively new to the English Bar (called only in 2014), Monica Feria- Tinta’s Hot 100 ranking is the only latest of many garlands awarded to her in a sparkling career spanning many countries. She enjoyed a very special 2019, advising on some extremely novel issues relating to the most pressing issue facing our planet.

Media around the globe reported on the world’s first contentious case on climate change to reach an international organ, the Human Rights Committee (HR Committee).

Feria-Tinta has been instrumental in developing the legal arguments to bring about the claim on behalf of inhabitants of Torres Strait Islands, low-lying islands that are currently sinking into the sea as a result of climate change. What the HR Committee decides will have huge significance.

Meanwhile, in December she filed an international case against Australia on behalf of West Timor, the Indonesian islands affected by one of the worst-ever offshore oil disasters. With a quantum of AU$15bn (£7.8bn), environmentally speaking it is as complex as it gets. The result will set an important precedent for the petroleum industry and clarify the law on the obligations of the state in cases such as these.

Environmental causes are by no means the only important cases Feria-Tinta takes on. Last year, she also dealt with legal issues arising from war crimes in Kosovo, Syria, Libya and other jurisdictions.