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Amal Clooney is a barrister who specializes in international law and human rights.

Amal Clooney is a barrister who specializes in international law and human rights. She is ranked in the legal directories Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners  as a leading barrister in international human rights law, public international law, and international criminal law. She is described as ‘a brilliant legal mind’ who is ‘in a league of her own at the Bar’. The directories spotlight her ‘commanding presence before courts’ and describe her as ‘a dream performer before international tribunals’ with ‘superb advocacy’ that is ‘crystal clear in focus and highly persuasive’. The rankings emphasize her ability to galvanize ‘heads of state, foreign ministers and business … in a way that is very effective’ for victims of human rights abuses. She is also described as being ‘amazing with vulnerable witnesses’ and having a ‘passionate commitment to the law and compassion for the people it serves’. Her contributions have been recognised by the Committee to Protect Journalists, the American Society of International Law, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the Kings Trust and Time Magazine. Most recently, in 2024, she won the Legal 500 Award for international lawyer of the year. 

Amal frequently represents victims of mass atrocities, including genocide and sexual violence. She has acted in many landmark human rights cases including the world’s first trials in which ISIS members have been convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. Amal also represents over 800 Yazidi victims of ISIS in the first civil case in a U.S. court seeking to hold ISIS financiers responsible for complicity in ISIS’ terrorist acts. She has represented Armenia in a case involving the Armenian genocide and was counsel to over 100 victims of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, at the International Criminal Court. 

Amal also represents political prisoners around the world and has helped to secure the freedom of journalists arbitrarily detained for their work across the globe. Her work has included defending Reuters journalists who uncovered evidence of genocide in Myanmar, journalists covering protests in Egypt and a leading investigative journalist exposing corruption in Azerbaijan, all of whom were released following her work. She currently represents Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, who faces decades behind bars for her work as a journalist in the Philippines. In 2020 Amal was the recipient of the Gwen Ifill Award for ‘extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom’ from the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Amal has served as a senior advisor to Kofi Annan when he was the UN’s Envoy on Syria, as Counsel to the UN Inquiry on the use of armed drones and as a rapporteur for the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute on independence of the judiciary. She is a member of the UK’s team of experts on preventing sexual violence in conflict zones and the UK Attorney General’s panel of experts on public international law. From 2019-2021 she also served as the UK’s Special Envoy on Media Freedom and as deputy chair of an International Bar Association Panel of Legal Experts chaired by a former UK Supreme Court President that produced legal and policy advice on protecting freedom of the press. 

Amal is also a Professor of Practice in International Law at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and an Honorary Fellow of St Hugh’s College, Oxford. And she is the co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which provides free legal aid in defence of free speech and women’s rights in over 40 countries. Its work has led to dozens of journalists being set free and thousands of women receiving free legal support to defend their rights, including their rights to freedom from abuse, economic discrimination and child marriage. In 2022, the Foundation partnered with the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance and Melinda French Gates to advance gender equality and reduce levels of child marriage worldwide. The Foundation also provides a fellowship program to help young women lawyers across Africa launch careers in human rights.

Before joining the London bar, Amal worked in The Hague at the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and as a prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. She is admitted to the New York Bar and practiced as a litigation attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York. 

Selected Cases

Genocide, Sexual Violence, Torture and other Mass Atrocities

Iraq and Syria (representative cases)

  • Yazidi genocide perpetrated by ISIS (legal advice and advocacy before United Nations). Representing a group of Iraqi victims from the Yazidi community seeking accountability for genocide and other crimes perpetrated by ISIS. Provide ongoing legal advice and successfully advocated for creation of a UN investigation of ISIS’ crimes in Iraq, which became operational pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2379. Clients include Nadia Murad, who was awarded the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, and many other female survivors of sexual violence.  
     
  • Murad v. Lafarge(US District Court, Eastern District of New York). Representing over 800 Yazidi-Americans in a civil case against French conglomerate Lafarge S.A. for conspiring to provide material support to ISIS. The lawsuit, filed under the civil provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act, seeks to hold the company accountable for its admitted criminal conspiracy with ISIS and obtain compensation for the victims. 
     
  • United States v. Nisreen Assad Ibrahim Bahar (a/ka “Umm Sayyaf”) (US District Court, Eastern District of Virginia). Represented five Yazidi women under the US Crime Victims’ Rights Act in a criminal case involving crimes committed by ‘the ISIS widow’ (wife of Abu Sayyaf, who was a senior leader within ISIS) in the Eastern District of Virginia. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Taha A-J (Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt). Represented a Yazidi woman in a criminal case against a member of ISIS who purchased, enslaved, tortured and killed the client’s five-year old daughter. This is the first known case in the world where a member of ISIS was convicted of genocide under universal jurisdiction laws. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Jennifer W (Higher Regional Court of Munich). Represented Yazidi woman in a criminal case against an ISIS member who was found guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity following the enslavement and abuse of the client and the killing of her five-year-old Yazidi girl at the defendant’s home. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Sarah O (Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf). Represented a Yazidi survivor in a case against a German ISIS member who was convicted of aiding and abetting rape, enslavement and religious and gender-based persecution as crimes against humanity for abuses against seven Yazidi women. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Nurten J (Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf). Represented a Yazidi survivor in a case against a German ISIS member who was convicted of committing war crimes and aiding and abetting crimes against humanity against a Yazidi woman. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Omaima A (Higher Regional Court of Hamburg). Represented a Yazidi survivor in a case against a German ISIS member who was found guilty of aiding and abetting crimes against humanity for her involvement in the enslavement of two Yazidi women.
     
  • Prosecutor v Jalda A (Higher Regional Court of Hamburg). Represented a Yazidi survivor in a case against a German ISIS member who was found guilty of aiding and abetting genocide as well as of crimes against humanity and war crimes for the enslavement and abuse of a Yazidi woman. 
     
  • Prosecutor v Nadine K (Higher Regional Court of Koblenz). Represented a Yazidi survivor in a case against a German ISIS member who was found guilty of aiding and abetting genocide as well as of crimes against humanity and war crimes for the enslavement and abuse of a Yazidi woman.

Myanmar

  • The Gambia v. Myanmar (International Court of Justice). Instructed by a state party to the Genocide Convention to intervene in the ongoing case between The Gambia and Myanmar before the International Court of Justice, addressing Myanmar’s alleged responsibility for genocide against the Rohingya and seeking remedies for the victims. 

Darfur

  • The Prosecutor v. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (‘Ali Kushayb’) (International Criminal Court). Represented a group of over 100 Darfuri victims in the first criminal case against a senior commander of the Janjaweed militia charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Ukraine

  • Legal Task Force on Accountability for Crimes Committed in Ukraine. Led a Legal Task Force that provided advice to the government of Ukraine on legal avenues to secure criminal accountability and reparations for war crimes, including in relation to the establishment of a ‘register of damage’ and Claims Commission for Ukraine. The Task Force included a former President of the UK Supreme Court, a member of the House of Lords, and other experts in international law. 

Armenia

  • Perinçek v. Switzerland (European Court of Human Rights). Represented the Republic of Armenia intervening as a third party in a case concerning the denial of the Armenian genocide. 

Other

  • Ireland v. UK (European Court of Human Rights). Represented the ‘hooded men’ in an application by the Republic of Ireland for revision of a 1978 decision by the European Court of Human Rights holding that the ‘five techniques’, including hooding, food and drink deprivation and sleep deprivation did not amount to torture. 
     
  • Mutua et al. v. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (High Court of England and Wales). Legal advice on international law aspects of claim by 5 members of the Mau Mau Kenyan tribe alleging torture in detention camps during British Colonial rule in Kenya. The case led to a historic settlement in which the UK government agreed to pay almost £20 million in compensation to over 5,000 claimants and issue an apology for the abuses that took place. 
     
  • Johnson v. Ghana (African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights). Represented a Ghanaian citizen on death row before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights in a case arguing that a mandatory death penalty for certain categories of crimes amounts to a violation of the defendant’s rights to life, to a fair trial and the prohibition of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
     
  • R (Bancoult) v. FCO (No.2) (UK Supreme Court). Represented Mr. Bancoult in proceedings concerning the removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Islands in 1971 and their right to return (instructed by Clifford Chance).  
     
  • Roma Lead Poisoning (United Nations Secretariat). Advised and represented members of the Roma community in claims for compensation against the United Nations arising from their lead poisoning in Kosovo’s IDP camps (instructed by Leigh Day).
     
  • Prosecutor v. Ayyash et al (Special Tribunal for Lebanon, The Hague). Member of the prosecuting team at the first UN-created court dealing with terrorism. The case concerned five persons accused of assassinating former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri and others in a terrorist attack in Beirut.
     
  • UNIIIC (UN International Independent International Investigation Commission). Legal adviser to the head of the investigative team created by UN Security Council to investigate terrorist attacks on pro-western politicians and journalists in Lebanon. Interviewed witnesses and contributed to legal analysis that led to indictments for terrorism being issued against 5 members of the Hezbollah group.
     
  • Prosecutor v. Milosevic (UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia). Judicial assistant to Judge Patrick Robinson, Presiding Judge in the first trial of a head of state -- the ex-President of the former Republic of Yugoslavia -- for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Other Cases involving Gender-based Violence 

  • AAA v. Camellia PLC et al. (High Court of England and Wales). Represented 36 women alleging rape, other gender-based violence and sexual harassment during the course of their work on tea estates in Malawi, leading to a ground-breaking settlement that included compensation for the claimants and a range of safety measures, training, a Women’s Empowerment Initiative, a Female Leadership Training Programme, and funding of civic education programmes on sexual harassment and gender equality.
     
  • AAA v. Camellia PLC et al. (High Court of England and Wales). Represented 85 Kenyans in a claim against a UK-based company for human rights abuses committed by security guards in Kenya, including killings, rape, and false imprisonment over a ten-year period. The settlement included compensation, the introduction of safety measures, and the introduction of a Human Rights Defender policy.

Freedom of Expression, Journalists and other Media Professionals

  • People of the Philippines v. Maria Ressa and Rappler (Manila Regional Trial Court, Philippines). International counsel for Filipino-American journalist and Nobel laureate facing decades in prison in Manila based on spurious charges and a conviction for ‘cyber-libel’. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo (Insein District Court in Yangon, Myanmar). Counsel for two Reuters journalists convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison in Myanmar following their reporting on alleged crimes committed by Myanmar forces, including the execution of 10 Rohingya men in Rakhine State. The two journalists were released in May 2019. 
     
  • Khadija Ismayilova v. Azerbaijan (European Court of Human Rights). Represented award-winning journalist subject to politically-motivated following her reporting of alleged corruption by the President and his family. The European Court ruled in her favour and she was released in 2016. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Mohamed Fahmy (Cairo Court of Appeal and Egypt Supreme Court).  Represented journalist from Al Jazeera English television network detained in Egypt following an unfair trial for the crimes of ‘terrorism’ and ‘fake news’.  Mr. Fahmy was released in 2015. 
     
  • Sweden v. Assange (City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, London). Represented Julian Assange, head of Wikileaks, in extradition proceedings.  

Right to a Fair Trial and Political Prisoners

  • Mohamed Nasheed v. The Maldives  (UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and UN Human Rights Committee). Represented the Maldives’ former president who had been subject to an unfair and politically-motivated trial prior to Presidential elections. Mr. Nasheed was released in 2016. 
     
  • Tymoshenko v. Ukraine (European Court of Human Rights). Represented a former Ukrainian Prime Minister in challenging her politically-motivated prosecution and detention in Ukraine. The case was settled with an acknowledgement by Ukraine of the violations raised in the European Court claim. 
     
  • Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo v. Philippines (UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention). Represented a former President of the Philippines in a challenge before a UN committee to her arrest and detention for a ‘non-bailable offence’ in Manila. The UN committee ruled in her favour and Ms. Macapagal-Arroyo was released in 2016.
     
  • Fuchs v. Georgia.  Legal advice on the violation of a businessman’s human rights arising from his entrapment by Georgian officials (instructed by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP).
     
  • John Doe v. Algeria. Advice concerning a politically-motivated INTERPOL arrest warrant and travel ban imposed as a result of a malicious prosecution by Algerian authorities (instructed by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP).
     
  • Merck v. Ecuador (Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague). Assistant to the Tribunal in UNCITRAL arbitration concerning a claim by a US investor of denial of justice in the Ecuadorian courts.

Other Cases involving Public International Law, International Criminal Law and Human Rights

  • Cambodia v. Thailand (International Court of Justice). Represented Cambodia in an inter-state territorial claim concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear brought before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. 
     
  • Parthenon Marbles (Advice to the Greek Government). Advised the Greek Government on the return of cultural property - the Parthenon Marbles - from the United Kingdom to Greece. 
     
  • Prosecutor v. Senussi and Gaddafi (International Criminal Court). Participated in litigation on the appropriate venue for the trial of a former Libyan intelligence chief. Argued that the trial for alleged crimes against humanity should take place in The Hague, not Libya, due to lack of fair process and application of the death penalty in Libya.
     
  • Young v. A-G of New Zealand (Supreme Court of New Zealand). Advice on the scope of state immunity under domestic and international law in claims alleging human rights abuses by members of the armed forces.

Selected Recent Honours and Awards

  • 2024: Legal 500 International Law Junior of the Year Award
     
  • 2022: Article 3 ‘Human Rights Global Treasure Award’
     
  • 2022: Time Woman of the Year award
     
  • 2021: NYU Law Alumni Achievement award
     
  • 2021: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press ‘Freedom of the Press Award’
     
  • 2020: Committee to Protect Journalists Gwen Ifill Award for ‘extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom’ 
     
  • 2020: Simon Wiesenthal Center Humanitarian Award 
     
  • 2019: American Society of International Law ‘Champion of the International Rule of Law’ Award
     
  • 2018: United Nations Correspondents Association Global Citizen of the Year Award
     
  • 2016: World Economic Forum Young Global Leader

Current Appointments 

Publications

Selected Books and Chapters 

What the Directories Say

  • "Amal is truly a world-class barrister. She does the Bar proud in terms of the quality of her legal advice and her poise in how she presents to the world stage and international courts." (Chambers & Partners, 2024)
     
  • “One of the leaders of the bar in international human rights law." (Chambers & Partners, 2024)
     
  • “A leader on every case she is involved in, and a master strategist and compassionate advocate for the most vulnerable.” (Legal 500, 2024)
     
  • "Amal is … amazing with vulnerable witnesses and has the best strategic sense of anyone I have come across." (Chambers & Partners, 2024)
     
  • “She is in a league of her own at the Bar." (Chambers & Partners, 2023)
     
  • "A first-class international lawyer.” (Chambers & Partners, 2023)
     
  • " She is a natural leader and her written work and ability to think several steps ahead make her an enormous asset to any team." (Chambers & Partners, 2023)
     
  • "She is extremely hard-working, does a heavy amount of pro bono work and is extremely impressive." (Chambers & Partners, 2023)
     
  • “The advocacy work she is doing is having an enormous impact.” (Chambers & Partners, 2023)
     
  • “Amal has long been performing at the level of Silk. Her command of granular legal detail and facts is combined with an astute strategic mind and compelling advocacy style.” (Legal 500, 2023)
     
  • “Amal is one of the finest advocates for the rights of victims in the sphere of international criminal prosecution.” (Legal 500, 2022)
     
  • “Her courtroom advocacy is crystal clear in focus and highly persuasive.” (Legal 500, 2022)
     
  • “A compelling advocate and strategic thinker who really knows her cases in detail." (Chambers and Partners, 2021)
     
  • "Amal is really the most thoughtful, generous and highly knowledgeable expert in her area." (Chambers and Partners, 2021)
     
  • "Amal shows incredible dedication to the victims' communities she works alongside and represents." (Chambers and Partners, 2021)
     
  • “Amal is a first-class international lawyer: she always knows her brief inside out, exercises impeccable judgement, and is a dream performer before international tribunals.” (Legal 500, 2021)
     
  • “A natural leader, with a commanding presence before courts and international tribunals.” (Legal 500, 2021)
     
  • “A rare combination of intellectual depth and pragmatism.” (Legal 500, 2020)
     
  • “A brilliant legal mind, with strong interpersonal skills - highly diligent and detailed in her work, with a passionate commitment to the law and compassion for the people it serves.” (Legal 500, 2020).