Amal Clooney is co-founder and co-President, along with her husband George, of the Clooney Foundation for Justice. She is also a barrister specializing in international law and human rights who represents victims of human rights violations in national and international courts. She has appeared in cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and the European Court of Human Rights.
Ms. Clooney currently represents Yazidi victims of genocide in national courts including in the first genocide case against an ISIS member. She also represents over 100 Sudanese victims of crimes committed by Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb who faces trial before the International Criminal Court. And she represents a state in one of the most groundbreaking cases before the International Court of Justice alleging that Myanmar is responsible for the crime of genocide against the Rohingya people.
Ms. Clooney has also helped to secure freedom for political prisoners around the world including journalists and opposition figures. She currently represents award-winning Filipino journalist Maria Ressa who faces a lifetime behind bars for her work in the Philippines. And in 2020 she 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. She is also deputy chair of the High-Level Legal Panel of Experts on Media Freedom chaired by former UK Supreme Court President Lord Neuberger and in 2019-2020 she was the UK’s Special Envoy on Media Freedom.
Ms. Clooney is a visiting Professor at Columbia Law School and author of The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law, published by Oxford University Press. She practiced as a litigation attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York and holds law degrees from Oxford University and New York University School of Law.