Amal Alamuddin (أمل علم الدين) was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on 3 February 1978.[10] Her father is DruzeLebanese and her mother is a Sunni Muslim from Lebanon. When she was two years old, her family left Lebanon to escape the Lebanese Civil War and arrived in the United Kingdom, where they settled in Gerrards CrossinBuckinghamshire.[11] She has three siblings: one sister (Tala Alamuddin) and two half-brothers from her father's first marriage.[12]
Her mother Baria (née Miknass)'s Sunni father is from Tripoli in the North Governorate.[16][13] She was a political journalist and foreign editor of the Saudi-run newspaper al-Hayat.[17] She is a founder of the public relations company International Communication Experts, which is part of a larger company that specialises in celebrity guest bookings, publicity photography, and event promotion.[18]
Clooney attended Dr Challoner's High School, a girls' grammar school located in Buckinghamshire's Little Chalfont. She then studied at St Hugh's College, Oxford, where she received an exhibition grant and the Shrigley Award.[19][20] In 2000, she graduated with a BA degree in Jurisprudence and is an Honorary Fellow of St Hugh's.[21] Speaking in 2023, Clooney commented "St Hugh’s took a chance on me and it really opened my eyes; it opened my mind; and it has opened so many doors. I have always been so grateful to St Hugh’s for giving me my shot and my legal compass."[22]
Clooney regularly represents journalists. In March 2018, Clooney joined the international legal team that represent the Pulitzer Prize-winning Burmese journalists for Reuters, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who were sentenced to seven years in prison by the Government of Myanmar for reporting on the murders of ten Rohingya men by the Buddhist villagers and Myanmar paramilitary police in the village of Inn Din in September 2017.[32][33][34] They were released in May 2019.[33] In July 2019, she and Irish barrister Caoilfhionn Gallagher became the leaders of the international legal team that represent Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa.[35] Ressa faces a series of legal charges that could lead to about 100 years in prison.[36] Ressa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her "courageous fight for freedom of expression in the Philippines".[37]
Clooney represents victims of mass atrocities, including genocide and sexual violence. In January 2015, she became a member of a legal team that represent Armenia on an appeal before the European Court of Human Rights against Turkish politician Doğu Perinçek who was convicted of denying the Armenian genocide.[38] In November 2021, it was reported that Clooney was co-plaintiff's and victims' counsel in the first case in which Islamic State member, Taha al-Jumailly, was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity. Al-Jumailly was sentenced to life in prison.[39] In April 2024, it was reported that Clooney was a plaintiff's counsel against Al-Jumailly's ex-wife, German-born Islamic State member Jennifer Wenisch, for her role in crimes against humanity, war crimes and membership in a foreign terrorist organization. She was sentenced to 14 years in prison.[40] In December 2023, she filed a civil case on behalf of over 400 Yazidi-American plaintiffs against French cement manufacturer Lafarge for conspiring to provide material support to the Salafi jihadist group Islamic State.[41] The lawsuit seeks to hold Lafarge accountable for its admitted criminal conspiracy with ISIS and obtain compensation for the Yazidi people.[42] Amal's long time client Nadia Murad is the lead plaintiff in the case.[43] After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Clooney and other prominent international human rights lawyers led a legal task force created at the request of the Government of Ukraine to provide legal advice on the potential avenues to secure criminal accountability for Russia in national jurisdictions, the ICC, and the United Nations.[44] She became a member of a group of international legal experts appointed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to advise on legal mechanisms for survivors of the conflict to claim compensation.[26]
In May 2024, it was announced that Clooney served on an advisory panel that reviewed the Prosecutor of theInternational Criminal Court's investigation into potential war crimes committed in the Israel–Hamas war.[45] The panel was convened by the ICC in January 2024 at the request of ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan.[46][47][45] She and seven other legal and academic experts unanimously recommended that an application be made for arrest warrants against the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip Yahya Sinwar, two other Hamas leaders and the Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant.[48] In a statement, Clooney said there were "reasonable grounds to believe" that all five individuals committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.[48] On 20 May 2024, Financial Times published an op-ed article written by Clooney and the other panel experts.[49] They hailed Khan's decision to issue the arrest warrants as "a milestone in the history of international criminal law".[49]
[edit]Clooney with British foreign minister Mark Field in London, 2018
Appointed as Special Adviser to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, Without Portfolio.[51]
Appointed to the UK Attorney General's Office Public International Law Panel (Panel C from 2014 to 2019 and Panel B from 2020), a panel of experts on international law which is called upon to advise and represent the UK in domestic and international courts.[52][53][3]
Appointed as UK Special Envoy on Media Freedom (2019–2020) by the UK Foreign Secretary (2019–2020).[54][3]
Appointed as Deputy Chair of the High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom (2019–2021) by Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, former President of the UK Supreme Court.[55][3]
Member of Expert Panel of Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) formed by former UK Foreign Secretary William Hague to gather evidence of sexual crimes committed in conflict zones.[3]
In 2013 she was appointed to a number of United Nations commissions, including as adviser to Special Envoy Kofi Annan on Syria and as Counsel to the 2013 Drone Inquiry by UN human rights rapporteur Ben Emmerson KC into the use of drones in counter-terrorism operations.[56][3][57]
Appointed to the Human Dignity Trust Bar Panel, a small panel of barristers who act pro bono and provide advice on cases challenging discrimination against the LGBT community.[3]
Clooney is the co-founder and co-president of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which she co-founded with her husband, George Clooney, in 2016. Their goal is to wage justice to create a world where human rights are protected and no one is above the law. The organization gathers evidence of mass human rights abuses, provides free legal support to victims and works to ensure that perpetrators are held to account. CFJ now operates in more than 40 countries: investigating war crimes in Ukraine, monitoring sham trials targeting women and journalists, and fighting back against a global trend of authoritarianism that seeks to punish those who speak truth to power. Its latest initiative, Waging Justice for Women, uses strategic litigation to reform discriminatory laws and increase accountability for gender-based abuse.[58]
She partnered with the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative in beginning the Amal Clooney Scholarship, which was created to send one female student from Lebanon to the United World College Dilijan each year, to enroll in a two-year International Baccalaureate (IB) programme.[59]
In 2017, the Clooneys awarded a $1 million grant to the Southern Poverty Law Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, to combat hate groups in America.[61]
In 2018, following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the Clooneys pledged $500,000 to the March for Our Lives and said they would be in attendance.[62] They also donated $100,000 to the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights, through the Clooney Foundation for Justice, to help migrant children who were separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border.[63]
Amal and George Clooney donated $100,000 to three Lebanese charities, the Lebanese Red Cross, Impact Lebanon, and Baytna Baytak, who helped provide aid to those affected by the 2020 explosion in Beirut.[64]
In 2020, the Clooneys donated $1 million to coronavirus relief efforts. This included money for the NHS to help provide assistance to frontline workers and to The Lebanese Food Bank which helps single mothers, the elderly and vulnerable people who could not work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[65] The couple also made a donation to The Mill at Sonning Theatre, located close to their Berkshire home, which helped ensure its survival through the pandemic.[66]
In 2022, Clooney, along with Michelle Obama and Melinda French Gates, launched the 'Get Her There' campaign that seeks to catalyse educating and empowering teenage females.[67][68]
In February 2017, it was reported by the American television talk show The Talk that Clooney was pregnant.[85] American actor Matt Damon, a friend of the family, confirmed the pregnancy on the American television series Entertainment Tonight shortly thereafter.[86] In June 2017, Clooney gave birth to fraternal twins: a girl and a boy, Ella and Alexander.[87]
Special Tribunal for Lebanon: Law and Practice, co-edited with D. Tolbert and N. Jurdi (Oxford University Press, 2014).[88]
Clooney, Amal; Webb, Philippa (2020). The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-198-80839-8. OCLC994411014. The book was awarded the top prize in academic book publishing, the American Society of International Law Certificate of Merit for High Technical Craftsmanship and Utility to Practicing Lawyers and Scholars, and has been cited by the UK Supreme Court.
"Human Rights", chapter in I. Roberts (ed.), Satow's Diplomatic Practice (7th Edition, Oxford University Press, 2017) (update for 2022 edition in progress).[89]
"The Right to Insult in International Law?", with P. Webb, in Columbia Human Rights Law Review, 2017, Vol. 48, No. 2.[90]
Alamuddin, Amal; Bonini, Anna (2014). "Chapter 4: The UN investigation of the Hariri assassination: The relationship between the UN investigation commission and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon: Problems of Principle and Practice". In Alamuddin, Amal; Jurdi, Nidal Nabil; Tolbert, David (eds.). The Special Tribunal for Lebanon: Law and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 50–72. ISBN978-0-19-968745-9. OCLC861207456.
Alamuddin, Amal (2014). "The role of the Security Council in starting and stopping cases at the International Criminal Court: problems of principle and practice". In Zidar, Andraž; Bekou, Olympia (eds.). Contemporary Challenges for the International Criminal Court. London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law. pp. 103–130. ISBN978-1-90522-151-6. OCLC871319445.
Alamuddin, Amal; Webb, Philippa (15 November 2010). "Expanding Jurisdiction over War Crimes under Article 8 of the ICC Statute". Journal of International Criminal Justice. 8 (5): 1219–1243. doi:10.1093/jicj/mqq066. ISSN1478-1387. OCLC775833494.
Alamuddin, Amal (2010). "II. Before the Trial Begins; 6. Collection of Evidence". In Khan, Karim A. A.; Buisman, Caroline; Gosnell, Christopher (eds.). Principles of Evidence in International Criminal Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 231–305. ISBN978-0-19-958892-3. OCLC663822377.
2016 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.[3][93]
2018 United Nations Correspondents Association Global Citizen of the Year Award.[94][95]
In 2019, Charles III launched the Amal Clooney Award to celebrate "incredible young women".[96]
The Simon Wiesenthal Center honoured Amal and George Clooney with its Humanitarian Award at its 2020 virtual gala.[97]
2020 Committee to Protect Journalists Gwen Ifill Award for "extraordinary and sustained achievement in the cause of press freedom".[98][99]
2021 Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press' Freedom of the Press Award.[100]
American Society of International Law "Champion of the International Rule of Law" Award.[3]
In 2021, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center's recognised Amal and George Clooney for their work in social justice and modern-day freedom efforts at the International Freedom Conductor Awards Gala.[101][102]
2022, Fellow of The Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet (known as the WS Society)[103]
^Rosenthal, Franz (2014). Gutas, Dimitri (ed.). Man Versus Society in Medieval Islam. Leiden; Boston: Brill. p. 613. ISBN978-9-004-27089-3. OCLC892338528.
^"Amal Clooney – the most wanted woman in Britain". Tatler. 19 January 2016. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2018. 'I remember her as humane and brainy,' adds Ghil'ad Zuckermann, now a professor of linguistics at the University of Adelaide, Australia, who was also at St Hugh's with Amal. 'Students were talking about Amal even then, especially those from Middle Eastern backgrounds. I remember being told around 1997, about her famous journalist mother'.
^Alamuddin, A.; Webb, P. (2010). "Expanding Jurisdiction over War Crimes under Article 8 of the ICC Statute". Journal of International Criminal Justice. 8 (5): 1219. doi:10.1093/jicj/mqq066.
