Benjamin Samson on Model UNs and International Law — A View From Paris [Part 1]
Dear MUNers, welcome to the last Fridays with MUNPlanet for the month of October. Our guest today isBenjamin Samson, a consultant in public international law from France who has been working on cases before the International Court of Justice, International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and various arbitral tribunals. Benjamin participated in several MUNs, as delegate, before going for a professional career in international law and a PhD in the subject. We talked to Benjamin about his understanding of MUNs, their importance for education and career, before pondering on the state of international law and international relations.
MUNPlanet: Benjamin, tell us something about your life path, and how you dived into the world of MUNs.
Benjamin: Hell of a question! Long story short: I am a 30 year-old lawyer. After my Master 2 (the French equivalent of an LL.M.) at University of Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense, I worked for a year for a law firm which deals with sovereign debt cases. Then I started a Ph.D. at University of Nanterre in the field of international investment arbitration, which I’m still pursuing. Along my doctoral studies, I have worked and am still working on several cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea as well as various Arbitral Tribunals. Just like Onur Sonat, who recently gave aninterview on MUNPlanet, I can say that my “career” has been on the rise ever since my first Model UN in 2008.
The quickest answer to that question is: by chance! It was in 2008. A classmate forwarded an e-mail a few days before the deadline to apply to the 2008 edition of the Belgrade International Model United Nations (by far the best edition). I had never heard of Model UN and my English was not very good at that time but, nevertheless, I decided to apply. And about a week later I received a positive answer from you Marko, if my recollection is correct. The BIMUNexperience was so good that I decided to apply, together with other BIMUN participants, to EuroMUN which was held in Maastricht two or three weeks later.
In reality, I had a very short MUN career. Being a lawyer, I quickly turned to moot court competitions such as the Jessup Competition. This is a rather different type of competition, particularly in terms of preparation, but moot court competitions should – and sometimes are – incorporated in MUNs (see TEIMUN or PIMUN for instance).
MUNPlanet: Given your experience as delegate – what would be your most important takeaways from MUNs?
Benjamin: I see two main takeaways. First, MUNs are great opportunities to develop both your knowledge of the United Nations system and your oral skills.
MUNs force you to engage in quite intensive debates with your fellow delegates and to be very reactive in order to push forward the interests of the States you’re representing.
However, to defend efficiently your State’s interests requires some preparation. This preparation enables you to get acquainted with both the legal and political aspects the UN system. First, you need to identify the position and alliances of the State you’re representing on the issue considered during the conference. During the preparation of BIMUN 2008, I met with someone at the Embassy of the Republic of India in Paris which I represented in the General Assembly and discussed with that person the position of India on the revitalization of the role of the General Assembly.
Second, you need to become very familiar with the rules of procedure of the body you’re acting in. They’re often considered unimportant or boring. However, rules of procedure are fundamental and raising a relevant point of procedure may prove tactically very helpful during a debate.
This is equally true for drafting rules. UN language is very specific and every word has a particular political and legal meaning.
The second is more personal but no less important. I met some great people with whom I’m still friends, even though we all walked different paths. As recent as last month, we had a small BIMUN reunion with Sanja Tepavcevic in The Hague.
“In reality, I had a very short MUN career. Being a lawyer, I quickly turned to moot court competitions such as the Jessup Competition. This is a rather different type of competition, particularly in terms of preparation, but moot court competitions should – and sometimes are – incorporated in MUNs (see TEIMUN or PIMUNfor instance).”
