Nina Tavakoli
Call: 2014; Solicitor: 2003
Personal profile
Nina has a diverse practice that spans International Criminal Law and Inquiries both in the UK and internationally. She is ranked as a leading international criminal lawyer in UK legal directories Chambers UK and Legal 500, and is co-chair of Chambers’ International practice group.
Nina has extensive experience of genocide and war crimes prosecutions. She is currently Co-Counsel for Hashim Thaçi, former Kosovan President, who is on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. She has previously acted in ground-breaking cases before the International Criminal Court (Rohingya jurisdiction), the Special Court for Sierra Leone (President Charles Taylor), and numerous cases before the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Nina is highly experienced in International Investigations, with particular expertise working with male survivors of sexual violence and torture. She advises on best practice in war crimes investigations and on securing accountability for these crimes at the national and international levels.
Nina qualified as a solicitor in 2003. She transferred to the Bar in 2014, and for the first four years at the Bar concentrated almost exclusively on criminal trial work prosecuting and defending before the criminal courts at all levels.
Nina sits on Chambers’ Equality and Diversity Committee and is a mentor for the Kalisher Trust, a charity established to encourage and support students to pursue a career in the law and to promote a more diverse profession and judiciary.
Recommendations
― Legal 500 (2024)Her attention to detail and overall legal judgement are second to none. She is an experienced and outstanding advocate both in the UK and international courts.
― Chambers UK (2023)Nina is an all-rounder who brings a high level of client service to complex cases. She never loses sight of the big picture and is an expert advocate.
― Legal 500 (2023)Nina is a confident, composed and persuasive advocate. She combines attention to detail with an extensive knowledge of the law.
― Legal 500 (2022)Nina is a natural advocate – passionate about her cases, on top of her brief and a pleasure to work with
― Chambers UK (2022)A natural advocate, who is passionate about her cases, on top of her brief and a pleasure to work with.
― Chambers UK (2021)An extremely knowledgeable practitioner, who is a warm person with a great manner about her. She’s a real star in the making.
― Chambers UK (2021)Professional, meticulous, sensible and charming, she is very good with victims of grave crimes. She applies the full force of her intellect, experience and emotional energy to the job at hand.
― Legal 500 (2021)Nina’s intelligence and intuition for identifying strengths and weaknesses and strategies for utilising them is impressive. She’s an excellent legal drafter, who developed comprehensive and in-depth arguments on an extremely complicated topic with a small team on a very tight timeline.
― Legal 500 (2021)Her knowledge of international criminal law and ability to get on top of new legal issues, and her patience in dealing with the more difficult aspects of the process, is an absolute asset.
― Chambers UK (2020)She handles very difficult witnesses with good sense, emotional intelligence and rigour.
― Chambers UK (2020)She provides high-level, clear and accessible advice on how to adhere to best practice.
― Chambers UK (2020)She is an excellent legal drafter who develops comprehensive and in-depth arguments relating to extremely complicated topics. She is an absolute asset.
― Legal 500 (2020)She is extremely committed to cases and clients alike.
― Legal 500 (2019)An incredibly bright and committed lawyer who understands the nuance of her subject matter.
― Chambers UK (2019)A seasoned professional.
― Chambers UK (2019)She is very bright, has strong interpersonal skills and is hugely enjoyable to work with.
― Chambers UK (2018)A hard-working team player with exceptional legal skills who attracts plaudits for her ability to quickly identify key components of issues and prepare clear and concise written submissions.
― Chambers UK (2018)Very bright and extremely committed to her cases and clients, she will go the extra mile to ensure the delivery of exceptionally high-quality work. She is a barrister who confronts challenges.
― Chambers UK (2018)Bright, articulate and unrelenting in getting the best result for her client.
― Chambers UK (2018)She has excellent interpersonal skills reflected in her capacity to listen closely to her clients. Nina helps them to talk about topics which they find confusing or painful, or which they feel ashamed about.
International Criminal Law
Nina has been instructed in a number of high profile and ground-breaking cases before international criminal tribunals including the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the International Criminal Court, the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
She is recognised as an expert on sexual and gender based violence crimes committed in conflict by the UK government which has appointed her a member of its independent team of experts on preventing sexual violence in conflict (PSVI). She is also a JRR-UN Women sexual and gender based violence expert.
She has significant expertise in investigating and documenting international crimes particularly sexual violence and torture perpetrated in Sri Lanka and Myanmar and advising on accountability.
Nina holds a Master’s degree in Public International Law from the London School of Economics.
Featured cases
International Criminal Courts
- Kosovo Specialist Chambers (2020) -Co-Counsel for Hashim Thaçi, former president of Kosovo, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. (KSC-BC-2020-06) [Press Report], [Press Report].
- International Criminal Court (2018) – Instructed to lead a team of lawyers to file an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Bangladeshi CSOs at the ICC asserting that the Court is authorised to exercise jurisdiction over the deportation of more than 670,000 Rohingya from Myanmar to Bangladesh. (ICC-RoC46(3)-01/18) [Press Report]
- Special Court for Sierra Leone (2011–2013): Charles Taylor – Instructed as prosecution appeals counsel in the case of the former president of Liberia. Taylor was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity including the use of child soldiers, murder, rape and torture committed by rebel forces in the Sierra Leonean civil war. (SCSL-03-01-A) [Press Report]
- United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (2007–2011) – Instructed as legal adviser to international judges including the Tribunal President and Vice-President in numerous trials of senior Rwandan government and political figures for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity:
- Bizimungu et al., Four ministers in the Rwandan Government acquitted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. (ICTR-99-50)
- Nchamihigo, a deputy prosecutor, was convicted of instigating, ordering and aiding and abetting genocide, and crimes against humanity. (ICTR-01-63)
- Bikindi, a Rwandan singer, was convicted of direct and public incitement to genocide arising from hate speech. (ICTR-01-72) [Press Report]
- Ntawukuliyayo, a regional politician, was convicted of aiding and abetting and ordering genocide. (ICTR-05-82)
- Gatete, a regional politician, was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. (ICTR-00-61)
- Munyakazi (ICTR-97-36A) and Kayishema (ICTR-95-1), two cases where the Chamber denied the prosecution’s application to extradite the accused to Rwanda on the basis that they would not face a fair trial. These decisions were subsequently relied on by the English High Court in extradition proceedings in Bajinya et al v The Government of Rwanda and the Secretary of State for the Home Department [2009] EWHC 770.
Rule of Law and Capacity Building
Nina provides advice on strengthening the rule of law and capacity building in fragile and post-conflict environments. In recent years she has worked across Africa, the Balkans and South Asia.
She has advised on both international criminal and civil justice sector reform and provided training and advice on a range of issues including accountability for torture, sexual and gender based violence, human trafficking and terrorism.
Her clients include the UN, NGOs and the UK government which has appointed her a member of its independent team of ‘justice’ experts in post conflict and fragile states.
Nina is recognised as an expert on sexual and gender based violence crimes committed in conflict by the UK government which has appointed her a member of its team of independent experts on preventing sexual violence in conflict (PSVI). She is also a member of the JRR-UN Women sexual and gender based violence roster of experts.
Featured cases
- Western Balkans Rule of Law Initiative – Researching and scoping a large-scale, UK-led, long-term approach to improving rule of law and access to justice in the Western Balkans.
- Rohingya Crisis (PSVI) – Instructed to advise the UK Foreign Office on its response to sexual and gender based violence crimes perpetrated on the Rohingya by the Myanmar army and security forces.
- Bosnia (PSVI) – Instructed to review and recommend a strategic direction for the British Embassy in Sarajevo’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.
- Africa CSSF Gender Audit – Instructed to carry out a review of all UK Government CSSF programmes in Africa to assess their gender sensitivity and advising how to better mainstream gender.
- UNODC, Abuja, Nigeria – Appointed to assist in the training of a select group of prosecutors and legal advisors from the Nigerian National Police Force and Department of State Security to prosecute terrorism.
International Investigations
Nina is instructed to investigate international crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Her work involves interviewing survivors to document their experiences. She is particularly experienced in working with male survivors of sexual violence and torture.
Nina’s extensive expertise prosecuting and defending in international criminal tribunals enables her to advise on how to best use evidence gathered to prosecute these crimes both internationally and domestically.
Nina’s has been appointed by the UK Government as a member of its independent team of experts on preventing sexual violence in conflict (PSVI). She is also JRR-UN Women sexual and gender based violence expert.
Featured cases
- Investigating and documenting the commission of international crimes and advising on best practice and accountability in Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
Crime
Nina defends and prosecutes the full range of criminal offences in the Crown Courts of England and Wales. She has been instructed in cases covering the full gamut of Crime including Serious Violence, Sexual Offences and Fraud.
She is comfortable dealing with exceptionally complex cases given her litigation experience both as a commercial litigation solicitor at Hogan Lovells and subsequently in international criminal courts working on complex, multi-handed cases, involving multiple jurisdictions, hundreds of witnesses and extensive documentary evidence.
Inquests & Inquiries
Nina was part of the core team of counsel to the Dame Linda Dobbs Review, working closely with Dame Linda Dobbs from October 2018 to June 2023. She led two large teams of counsel to review and analyse a large volume of documentary evidence including legally privileged material which, unusually for an inquiry, the Review had been granted access to. She also led the preparation and conduct of a significant tranche of witness interviews.
The Review is believed to be one of the largest independent financial inquiries ever conducted. It was set up to investigate whether issues relating to HBOS Reading were investigated and appropriately reported to authorities following Lloyds Banking Group’s acquisition of HBOS.
Featured cases
- Dame Linda Dobbs Review: Dobbs Review
Extradition
Nina’s extensive experience acting in both domestic and international courts enables her to act skillfully and successfully on extradition cases for both the judicial authority and requested persons.
Education
- LLM Public International Law, London School of Economics
- BA History (Hons), University of Birmingham
Awards
Nina was commended for her work on the Rohingya case at the ICC by the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Europe 2019: [Press Report]
Nina’s work on the Rohingya case at the ICC was cited by the judges when Red Lion Chambers won ‘Chambers of the Year’ at the British Legal Awards 2019.
Professional appointments
- Member of the UK Government’s team of independent experts on preventing sexual violence in conflict, 2012 (PSVI); and a justice expert in post-conflict and fragile states, 2014 (DCE)
- JRR-UN Women sexual and gender-based violence roster of experts (2018)
Memberships
- International Bar Association: War Crimes Committee & Human Rights Institute
- BHRC
- CBA
- South Eastern Circuit
Publications
‘A crime that offends the conscience of humanity: a proposal to reclassify trafficking in women as an international crime’, International Criminal Law Review 9, 2009