Nicole Samson
Nicole Samson is a Senior Trial Lawyer at the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Prior to joining the ICC, Nicole practiced law in Toronto, Canada in complex commercial litigation, employment law disputes, class actions, libel and defamation cases, competition law claims and several criminal cases. As a Canadian lawyer with over 20 years’ experience, Nicole has appeared as senior counsel in two leading cases in international criminal law. In that capacity, she represented the Office of the Prosecutor in the cases against Thomas Lubanga and Bosco Ntaganda before the ICC. In addition, Nicole has lectured at the University of Leiden, presented at the University of Oxford, provided training to investigators and prosecutors at the Special Jurisdiction for Peace in Bogotá, Colombia and at the Institute for International Criminal Investigations in The Hague, participated as an expert in panels for various NGOs including Save the Children and World Vision UK. She regularly provides training and presentations within the ICC. Nicole has been interviewed by CNN and BBC Radio regarding the Ntaganda decisions on conviction and sentence.
Nicole was profiled for ATLAS by Alice Zago, an international criminal law practitioner. She is currently working as a Trial Lawyer at the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Disclaimer: The views expressed are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Prosecutor or the International Criminal Court.
============
What motivated you to embark on a career in this field, and what were your first steps?
I started out in law school as many other young people: intrigued to understand the terms and trial techniques mentioned everywhere in newspapers, daily news programs and popular legal dramas on TV. But also like many other law students, I had very limited idea about what exactly my legal career would look like.
In Canada, it is common to have one or two university degrees in other fields prior to being admitted to law school. I had studied French and English literature at the undergraduate and graduate levels then, at law school, I studied domestic and international law. The international law classes were the most interesting to me. I recall class discussions about the Rome conference that was taking place at the time. It was exciting to discuss a Court that would have jurisdiction over many situations of conflict – although I did not then realise that I would one day be part of the soon-to-be institution.
When law firms made the annual pilgrimage to recruit students at my law school, I joined the masses of other students lining up to be selected. I was offered a summer job after first-year law school in a large firm. In my second year of law school, I was offered a position in a leading Toronto law firm as a second-year summer student and I later articled at the same law firm. After completing my articling year and passing the Bar, the firm offered me a position as an Associate in the Litigation Department. The training I received at the firm and the work I did as an Associate was exceptional. They placed strong emphasis on mentorship, drafting, legal argument, client relations, professionalism and legal ethics. We were also encouraged to sit on boards or participate in other ways in the community (to increase our professional profile while giving back in time and expertise) and I was part of the Toronto branch of Amnesty International.
However, as I was in my 5th year as an Associate, it was time to think seriously about applying for Partnership in the firm. It would be a huge commitment, both personal and financial. I wanted to know what other legal careers looked like.
I applied for an internship at the ICC later that year. Since my experience in complex commercial litigation was very different from a career in international criminal law, I thought an internship was the best way to transition into an entirely new area of law. And while it is true that there are significant differences, it turns out that many of the skills I had already acquired transposed well into this new legal environment: an understanding of legal procedures and experience in pre-trial and trial hearings; legal analysis; a hard work ethic; drafting skills; the ability to listen before reacting. These skills are common to all legal fields.
I loved the work I did at the ICC. I finished my internship and was able to apply for higher positions with increasing responsibility. I noted quickly that at the ICC teams are big; in private practice you work alone or with a limited numbers of partners and junior lawyers on a number of cases at different stages of the litigation process. I also had to get used to working in a quasi-government setting; private practice is profit-driven with corporate efficiencies that are inherent to that goal.
What do you consider to be the high points of your career paths thus far?
At the ICC, I was quickly immersed in pre-trial then in trial proceedings - I eventually decided not to return to my law firm but to continue in this exciting field of law. In December 2008, on the eve of trial in the Lubanga case – the first case at the ICC - our team lost the senior trial lawyer. The Deputy Prosecutor was put in charge of the team, with another trial lawyer and myself in charge of day-to-day trial management issues. I worried about the change so close to trial, I worried that we couldn’t deliver as we should. But the team worked well together; we were a very small team of highly committed individuals who were prepared to do the best in the circumstances. We worked at a feverish pace during the three years of trial. And we faced numerous challenges during that first trial; but the Judges assessed that the evidence was sufficient to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
In February 2013, we learned that Bosco Ntaganda had surrendered to the US Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda and had requested to be transferred to the ICC. A warrant for his arrest had been issued in 2006 at the same time as the warrant of arrest for Thomas Lubanga. In 2012, the pre-trial judges issued a second warrant of arrest for more charges. I was put at the head of the pre-trial team. Again, we worked incredibly hard, extremely long hours for nearly one year to revive the case from dormancy, finalise investigations into 15 new charges, and bring the case before the pre-trial judges for a review of the charges for trial. Since the Ntaganda case was a partial extension of the Lubanga case - albeit with 15 new charges based on military attacks and a military rather than a political leader - I felt more confident this time around. I knew the evidence very well, I knew the procedural rules (we had litigated many of these procedures for the first time) and I had lived through a number of defence challenges. I had a sense as to which items of evidence would be relied upon by the judges and which were less likely to be accepted. We focused on strengthening evidentiary weaknesses, filling in gaps, and presenting a case that anticipated defence challenges. I had a great team, and we worked very well together. I learned a lot about myself as a manager, about my strengths and weaknesses. I grew professionally and personally in this role.
Conducting two trials at the ICC and contributing to two convictions have been the highest points in my career.
What are some of the challenges that you faced coming up in your career?
The practice of law is, in itself, challenging, particularly when starting out. You have to improve the way you draft, speak, present, build arguments, see details, assess situations and build rapport. You learn how to accept criticism from those appraising you, and from judges. You work very long hours. It is a solid training and you learn skills that will serve you well your whole life.
As a woman, law firms and likely many formal work settings can pose particular challenges. There are implicit biases at play. The office culture can – even unintentionally – help promote men rather than women. For example, it is more likely that male seniors will invite a male junior lawyer to a round of golf with clients – thereby creating a stronger relationship with the junior, sending more work his way, and creating an easy client development opportunity for the junior lawyer, which is critical for advancement in private practice. The same is true for casual meetings. Or, junior females may face sexual harassment at the workplace.
A particular challenge that I experienced is the perception that I am young (and therefore that I must lack experience). I look young, perhaps I also act young(!), and at times in my career I felt that I was not being taken as seriously as my male counterparts of the same age. Once, as I advanced to a higher level, I was told that I should be happy as I was so young to get this particular promotion – when I knew of male counterparts who had reached that level at a younger age but were not considered young at the time.
In my experience, junior men are viewed as ambitious, up-and-comers in a positive sense, while junior women are often viewed as just young and inexperienced. Or ambitious, but this is often viewed negatively. Confidence and speaking up reduces this impression, as does a healthy sense of humour. Let your work speak for itself, have it be of the highest quality, and give value in all that you do. Continue to go the extra mile.
Do you have any advice for people, particularly women, hoping to work in international law/ domestic human rights law in the future?
Experience in your domestic legal system is invaluable. It is important, in my view, that you come into this area of law with at least some domestic legal experience. Best of course is national prosecution or defence practice, but as in my case, civil litigation skills are also an asset.
Be yourself. Speak up. Show empathy and kindness - these are not weaknesses, they are strengths. In this field, we work with people from diverse backgrounds whose family and social networks are not here. Your job as you grow is to manage, lead and motivate a diverse group of people to reach your set goals. Empathy and kindness lead to trust and loyalty, and to a shared commitment to achieve results with you rather than in spite of you. I certainly found this to be the case as I led the Ntaganda team over seven years. By listening, treating people fairly and with kindness, the team became my friends who were committed not only to the case, but to me.
Know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses. In many legal environments with more men in senior positions than women, it can be tempting to adopt a style that is not your own. To view hard, aggressive styles as the key to being a good leader. They rarely are. Listen before reacting; remain calm, let go of the small stuff. Rise above.
Alice Zago has been practising in the field of human rights and international criminal law for almost 19 years. Her work experience includes investigations and prosecutions in several countries in Africa, Latin and Central America, and Asia. She is Italian and fluent in Spanish, French, and English. She holds a master degree from Harvard Law School and worked in New York and Brussels as an international law consultant before the United Nations and European institutions. She currently works as a trial lawyer in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. She featured in documentaries and publications about the ICC and participates as an expert in panels for various NGOs and academic institutions including the International Nuremberg Principles Academy.