Amal Clooney facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Amal Clooney
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| أمل كلوني | |
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Clooney in 2022
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Amal Alamuddin (أمل علم الدين)
3 February 1978 Beirut, Lebanon
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| Education | |
| Occupation | Barrister |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 2 |
Amal Clooney (born 3 February 1978) is a British lawyer who specializes in international human rights law. She helps people around the world who have been treated unfairly. She has worked for many important clients, like former presidents, journalists, and activists.
Amal Clooney has also worked with the United Nations and the UK government. She teaches law at Columbia Law School. In 2016, she and her husband, actor George Clooney, started the Clooney Foundation for Justice. This foundation works to protect human rights globally.
Contents
Early Life and Learning
Amal Alamuddin was born in Beirut, Lebanon, on 3 February 1978. Her family moved to the United Kingdom when she was two. They left Lebanon to escape the Lebanese Civil War. They settled in Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire.
Her father, Ramzi Alamuddin, is from a well-known family in Lebanon. He earned a business degree and returned to Lebanon after the war. Her mother, Baria Miknass, was a political journalist. She also founded a public relations company.
Amal went to Dr Challoner's High School, a girls' school in Buckinghamshire. She then studied at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She earned a degree in law in 2000. She later said that St Hugh's helped her open her mind and find her path in law.
After Oxford, she went to New York University School of Law (NYU Law). She earned a master's degree in law there. While at NYU, she worked for a judge named Sonia Sotomayor.
Her Work as a Lawyer
Amal Clooney can practice law in the United States and England. She became a lawyer in New York in 2002. In 2010, she became a barrister in England. She works at Doughty Street Chambers. She has also worked at international courts in The Hague. These include the International Court of Justice.
She worked for three years at a law firm in New York City. Her clients there included large companies. In 2024, she won a "Lawyer of the Year" award. This was for her excellent work in international law.
In 2004, Clooney worked at the International Court of Justice. She helped judges with their cases. She also worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. There, she helped with a case against a former president. She also worked as a prosecutor at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. She helped bring a case against people accused of a major assassination.
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Clooney often represents journalists. In 2019, she became a leader in a group of legal experts on media freedom. In 2018, she joined the team helping two journalists from Myanmar. They were jailed for reporting on violence. They were released in 2019. In 2019, she also became a lead lawyer for Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa. Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.
Clooney has also worked on cases involving serious crimes. In 2015, she helped Armenia in a case about the Armenian genocide. In 2021, she helped victims in a case where an Islamic State member was found guilty of genocide. This person was sentenced to life in prison. She also helped in a case against the ex-wife of another Islamic State member.
She represented victims of the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. This case was at the International Criminal Court. In 2023, Clooney filed a lawsuit against a company. This company was accused of helping the Islamic State group. Her client, Nadia Murad, is the main person in this case.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Clooney helped Ukraine. She advised them on how to hold Russia accountable for war crimes. She also advised on how victims could get help.
In May 2024, Clooney was part of a group of experts. They reviewed an investigation by the International Criminal Court. This investigation looked into possible war crimes in the Israel–Hamas war. The group suggested that arrest warrants be sought for five people. These included leaders from both sides of the conflict. Clooney stated there were "reasonable grounds to believe" they committed war crimes.
Since 2015, Clooney has taught at Columbia Law School. She teaches a human rights course. She has also given lectures at other universities.
Special Roles
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Amal Clooney has held several important positions:
- She is a Special Adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
- She advises the UK Attorney General's Office on international law.
- She was the UK Special Envoy on Media Freedom from 2019 to 2020.
- She was Deputy Chair of a panel of legal experts on media freedom.
- In 2013, she advised the UN Special Envoy on Syria.
- She also advised on a UN inquiry into the use of drones.
- She helps with cases that fight discrimination against the LGBT community.
Clooney Foundation for Justice
Amal Clooney co-founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) in 2016. She started it with her husband, George Clooney. The foundation works to make sure human rights are protected everywhere. They believe no one is above the law.
CFJ gives free legal help to people whose human rights have been abused. They work in over 40 countries. The foundation has three main programs:
- TrialWatch: This program watches criminal trials. It makes sure journalists and other vulnerable people get fair trials.
- The Docket: This group investigates terrible crimes. They work to bring those responsible to justice.
- Waging Justice for Women: This program fights against unfair laws. It also helps women who have faced abuse. This includes legal help clinics in Africa. It also works with Michelle Obama and Melinda French Gates. They support education for girls.
Giving Back
Amal Clooney is also involved in other charitable work.
- She started the Amal Clooney Scholarship. This scholarship sends a young woman from Lebanon to a special school each year.
- She and her husband helped a Yazidi student named Hazim Avdal. He was attending the University of Chicago.
- In 2018, the Clooneys gave money to the March for Our Lives. This was a movement for stricter gun laws.
Personal Life
Amal Clooney is a citizen of both Lebanon and Britain. She speaks English, French, Italian, and Arabic.
She became engaged to American actor George Clooney in April 2014. They had met through a friend in July 2013. They got married on 27 September 2014, in Venice, Italy. After their wedding, they bought a house in England.
In February 2017, it was announced that Amal was pregnant. In June 2017, she gave birth to twins, a girl named Ella and a boy named Alexander.
Published Works
Books
- Special Tribunal for Lebanon: Law and Practice, co-edited (Oxford University Press, 2014). This book won an award for its helpfulness to lawyers.
- Co-editor of Freedom of Speech in International Law (2024).
Book chapters and journal articles
- "Human Rights", a chapter in Satow's Diplomatic Practice (2023).
- "The Right to Insult in International Law?", with P. Webb, in Columbia Human Rights Law Review (2017).
Selected articles and blogs
- Clooney, Amal, and others (20 May 2024), "Why we support ICC prosecutions for crimes in Israel and Gaza" Financial Times.
- Clooney, Amal and Wolosky, Lee (17 December 2023), "Why We’re Helping Yazidi Americans Get Justice" New York Times.
- Clooney, Amal and Skilbeck, Rupert (19 October 2023), "Amal Clooney and Rupert Skilbeck on why Britain fails to hold war criminals to account" Economist.
- Clooney, Amal (29 July 2021). "Don't Let the Autocrats Win – How Biden Can Use the Democracy Summit to Build Back Media Freedom". Just Security.
- Clooney, Amal (17 May 2021). "Yazidis Deserve Justice for Genocide: How Biden's Team Can Lead the Way". Just Security.
- Clooney, Amal (11 May 2021). "An ISIS torturer was complicit in genocide. The U.S. is making it hard to bring her to justice". The Washington Post.
- Clooney, Amal (12 June 2020). "A test for democracy in the Philippines". The Washington Post.
- Clooney, Amal (22 September 2017). "Finally, We Have a Coordinated Effort to Bring ISIS to Justice". Huffington Post.
- Clooney, Amal (14 October 2015). "Maldives Backslides Into Repression as the World Calls for President Nasheed's Release". Huffington Post.
- Clooney, Amal (2 August 2015). "It Is Time for Sisi to Set Al Jazeera Journalist Mohamed Fahmy Free". Huffington Post.
- Clooney, Amal (30 April 2015). "Release Mohamed Nasheed – an innocent man and the Maldives' great hope". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/30/release-mohamed-nasheed-maldives-president-conviction.
- Clooney, Amal (26 February 2015). ""Egypt Should Send Canadian Journalist Mohamed Fahmy Home". Huffington Post.
Awards and Recognition
Amal Clooney has received many awards for her work:
- In 2014, she was named Barbara Walters' "Most Fascinating Person."
- She was a "Young Global Leader" at the 2016 World Economic Forum.
- In 2018, she received the UN Correspondents Association Global Citizen of the Year Award.
- Charles III launched the Amal Clooney Award in 2019. This award celebrates "incredible young women."
- She and George Clooney received the Humanitarian Award in 2020.
- In 2020, she won the Gwen Ifill Award for her work on press freedom.
- She received the Freedom of the Press Award in 2021.
- She was honored with the "Champion of the International Rule of Law" Award.
- In 2021, she and George Clooney were recognized for their social justice work.
- In 2022, Time magazine named her "Woman of the Year."
- She received the Article 3 Human Rights Global Treasure Award in 2022.
- In 2023, she received an honorary doctorate from a university in Belgium.
- The BBC included her on its "100 Women" list in 2023.
- In 2024, she won a Legal 500 "Lawyer of the Year" award.
See Also
In Spanish: Amal Clooney para niños
- Lebanese people in the United Kingdom
- List of Druze
