Amal Clooney

Biography

Amal Clooney was the UK’s Special Envoy for Media Freedom from April 2019 to September 2020.

In this role she helped to convene a panel of legal experts to issue recommendations on legal and policy initiatives that states can adopt to improve media freedom.

As a barrister who specialises in international law and human rights, Ms Clooney represents clients before international courts. She also provides advice to governments and individuals on legal issues in her areas of expertise. Ms Clooney is ranked in the leading legal directories Chambers and Partners and in Legal 500 as one of the top lawyers in the UK in the fields of international human rights and international criminal law.

Ms Clooney served as a Senior Adviser to Kofi Annan when he was the UN’s Envoy on Syria, and as Counsel to the UN Inquiry on the use of armed drones. She was appointed to the UK Attorney-General’s expert panel to advise and represent the UK government in cases involving public international law. Ms Clooney was also appointed to the UK government expert panel for the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative.

Ms Clooney has represented journalists and other political prisoners around the world. She has served as counsel for journalists and media workers including:

  • Khadija Ismayilova, an investigative reporter imprisoned in Azerbaijan for reporting on corruption
  • Mohamed Fahmy, when he was Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Cairo, and Pulitzer Prize-winning Reuters journalists
  • Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were released from imprisonment in Myanmar following their reporting on crimes committed against Rohingyas
  • award-winning journalist Maria Ressa, editor of one of leading online news organisations in the Philippines

She also represents Iraqi women from the Yazidi community who are seeking accountability for genocide and other international crimes perpetrated by Daesh in cases around the world, and before the United Nations.

As a Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School, Ms Clooney co-teaches the Human Rights course. She is the co-author of ‘The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law’. In 2016 she co-founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice to advance justice in courtrooms, classrooms and communities around the world.