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Experience

As a UN and later ICC official I saw the effects of conflict and wars and what happens when systems designed to protect human dignity don't work. I carry it with me to keep myself focused on what matters. I am a lawyer by training and have worked as an academic, a legal adviser, a political adviser, a (founding) CEO, a consultant, and a supervisory board member. I have worked closely at the highest political, business, and civil society levels in many countries. I am a builder, an innovator, focused on outcomes and results. Multicultural and otherwise challenging environments make me comfortable. I can work in English, French and Dutch. In 2022 I was awarded the Tällberg SNS Global Leadership Award for my work to advance democracy and rule of law. In December 2024, I was awarded a royal decoration for my work on justice, rule of law, and conservation. 

EMPLOYMENT​

  • Justice Compass Advisers - Independent adviser on justice and governance - May 2025 | Diverse projects, including: a project relating to rule of law, governance,  and climate change in the Amazon and Congo Basins; a project on developing effective social standards for business in complex environments; a project on developing a platform for AI and access to justice, and a strategy and change management process for the LAW department of the The Hague University for Applied Sciences. 

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  • ​Founding CEO, HiiL | 2005 - 2025 | CEO and chair of the Executive Board, leading overall strategy development and implementation, external relations and partnerships, research, and business development & fundraising.  Led the development of HiiL from an idea to a leading internationally known organisation on people-centered justice innovation. Worked on justice reform projects at the highest levels with ministers, chief justices and prosecutors, civil society, business leaders and with international organisations in complex political environments. Mainly in Africa and the MENA region. Led on the development, dissemination, and implementation of a new approach to strengthen justice systems: the people centered approach, now included in an OECD Recommendation, and strategies of the EU, UN, the World Bank and a growing group of countries.

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  • Founding Executive Director and later Chair of the Supervisory Board, Wildlife Justice Commission | 2013 - 2022 | Design, founding executive director for 2 years. Leading set-up from scratch, fundraising, strategy development, and team building. Then, chair of the Supervisory Board for 2 terms. Developed WJC to a solid organisation that has now become a leading institution in the fight against wildlife crime.

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  • Co-founder, Justice Leaders | 2013 - now.  Co-founder, chair of the executive board. Developed the Justice Leaders as advisory group for a number of international justice initiatives, like for example, the Task Force on Justice and the development of the peiople centered justice approach, now the topic of an OECD Recommendation. With that accomplished, the formal organisation has closed; the network remains active.

 

  • Setting up the International Criminal Court |2002  - 2004 | Head of the Advance Team that built the organisation and represented the court immediately after entry into force of the Rome Statute. Then, acting Director of Operations, followed by Special Adviser on External Relations, focussing on Assembly of States and the legal/political side of setting up field operations.

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  • Legal Adviser, Registry of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia  |1999 - 2002| Deputy, then Senior Legal Adviser and Head of the Legal Department.

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  • Legal Officer, UNRWA HQ Gaza | 1997 - 1999 | Legal officer, focused on operations in Gaza, West Bank, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon.

 

  • Research and teaching at Leiden University |1991 - 1996| Associate professor and programme director, LL.M. Public International Law Programme. Research fellow, awarded doctorate in 1995.

 

  • Associate legal officer, International Court of Justice  | 1990

 

  • Military Service, 12th Armoured Infantry Battalion  | 1983 – 1984 ​

 

AWARDS

  • Alumnus of the Future Leaders Programme of the French Foreign Ministry and of the High-Performance Leadership Programme of the IMD.

  • ​Awarded the 2022 Tällberg SNS Eliasson Global Leadership Prize for innovative work in creating and implementing new, concrete concepts and ways of working for law practitioners that focus on solving people’s real needs and thereby reinforce their commitment to democracy.​​

  • Appointed Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau, a Dutch royal honour, in December 2024, for my work in the field of law, peace, nature conservation and security.​​

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BOARDS

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  • Member, International Board of the World Wildlife Fund,  (2017-2024)​​

  • Member, Advisory Board, Justice Action Coalition (2024- now)​​

  • Chair, Supervisory Board, Wildlife Justice Commission (2016-2022)​​​

  • Chair, Stichting Landgoed Helpmekaar, a family foundation (present)​​

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  • More: Trustee, Hendrik Muller Fonds;  editorial board, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law; International Organisations Law Review;  Leiden Journal of International Law. Member, Advisory Board of Citizens for Justice (NGO on access to justice in the SADC region); Member, Strategy Advisory Group, Amnesty International – The Netherlands; Advisory Board to the Evaluation commission on crisis response to the shooting down of Flight MH17; Editorial Board, International Organisations Law Review; Member, Board of the Professor B.M. Telders International Law Moot Court Competition; Member, Board of the Hague Prize Foundation; Chair, Board of the Hague Academic Coalition; Editorial Board & contributor, 2013 World Bank Legal Review; Member, advisory board for the UN High Level Panel on Rule of Law and the 2012 opening debate of the UN General Assembly; Member, Advisory Board of the Centre for International Legal Cooperation; Member, Evaluation Committee, Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (Dutch World Radio); and Vice chair, School Board Montessori School Wassenaar.

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LANGUAGES​

  • English, French, and Dutch. 

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OTHER

  • Member, Jury, Tällberg Leaders Mentoring Leaders programme

  • Special adviser of the Task Force on Justice  (2018-2019

  • ​​Active for the World Economic Forum (until 2018) as chair and co-Chair, Global Agenda Council on Rule of Law and, later, Justice; member, Global Future Council on Technology, Values and Policy 

  • ​Certified facilitator, Foundation for Natural Leadership

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OTHER SIDES OF ME

  • I grew up in Liberia and Kenya and started life in The Netherlands at secondary school. I had to understand differences, build bridges, come to terms with the fact that I was ‘different’ in some respects, and use that as a firm foundation for who I was and what I did.

  • My family, wife and three children, are the foundation for what I do.

  • I practice zen meditation for many years. 

  • Sports keep me healthy and focussed: I am a keen runner, cyclist and mountain trekker.

  • I play guitar and love music. Other creative outlets: children’s stories and occasional poetry.

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Mountains in Clouds

IS THIS WORTH A CONVERSATION?

+316107775742

sam.muller@hiil.org

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