A Meeting with ICC Judge Kimberly Prost
By Jayden Kyryluk, B.A. and J.D. Candidate (2026)
On October 21, 2025, I took a short train ride from Nijmegen to The Hague. A ninety-minute train ride across the Netherlands felt surreal; for a Canadian, it’s like crossing a province before lunch. Much like home, however, you can find flat fields of various crops, distant farmhouses, and grazing cows speckled throughout the countryside.
Visiting The Hague, often called the global centre of international law, certainly piqued my judicial curiosity. Yet I was taking this train ride for one reason: to meet Robson Hall alumna and International Criminal Court (ICC) Judge Kimberly Prost. The moment I learned I would be studying in the Netherlands, I knew I had to meet Judge Prost. She has reached the pinnacle of international law, and for someone interested in the field like me, meeting her would be like a young Canadian meeting an NHL superstar. After a period of relative dormancy during the Cold War, international criminal law experienced a renaissance in the 1990s. Judge Prost played a pivotal role in that resurgence and in the very institutions that have since become subjects of my own research and writing. After a few emails and with the assistance of Robson Hall’s Director of Professional Development, Trina McFadyen, a meeting was arranged.
I arrived at the ICC in the afternoon, and I quickly noticed the beauty of the building. In contrast to the Neo-Renaissance International Court of Justice, a 35-minute walk away, the ICC is modern. Five glass towers rise from a rectangular base, encircled by a moat and patches of grass reminiscent of Manitoba’s prairie fields. Draped in vines and framed by water, the building felt peaceful. One could say the feeling mirrored the Court’s mission itself.
I met with Judge Prost upon arriving at the ICC, and we had a wonderful conversation about Winnipeg, international law, and some lessons she has learnt along the way. We laughed to discover we’d grown up across the Red River from one another, no more than a five-minute drive. “What a small world,” we said, as we realized we were also graduates of sibling high schools. It was apparent we came from similar roots.
Her most memorable advice was sincere: say yes to opportunities as they come. “I never planned this career path,” she said, explaining that it unfolded through one opportunity after another. Judge Prost is deeply proud to come from Winnipeg and credits her upbringing in the city as a significant factor in her success. Growing up in Winnipeg’s welcoming, multicultural environment facilitated a seamless transition between international institutions, including the Commonwealth Secretariat, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the United Nations, and now the ICC.
Judge Prost was the first Ombudsperson for the UN Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee in New York. In that role, she was responsible for creating an entirely new fair-process mechanism to determine whether individuals once considered security risks should remain on the list of people associated with terrorist activities. In this capacity, Judge Prost met with a range of individuals subject to international sanctions, including some who had been with Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, and the mechanism still stands today. With humility, Judge Prost shared that it was this achievement among many that she was most proud of. It was clear to me that Judge Prost has made a real difference in each role her career has taken her. She has made and continues to make Winnipeg and Robson Hall proud.
From growing up in neighbourhoods just across the Red to 6,600 kilometres away at the International Criminal Court, meeting Judge Prost showed me that the sky is the limit for Winnipeggers and Robson Hall graduates alike. Her journey proves that saying yes to challenges, to change, and to the unknown can open doors that no plan ever could.
The views and opinions expressed in the blogs and case reporter are the views of their authors, and do not represent the views of the Desautels Centre for Private Enterprise and the Law, the Faculty of Law, or the University of Manitoba. Academic Members of the University of Manitoba are entitled to academic freedom in the context of a respectful working and learning environment.