Amal represents clients before international courts including the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights and domestic courts in the UK and US. Alongside court work, she provides advice to governments and individuals on legal issues in her areas of expertise.
Amal is ranked in the leading legal directories Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 as one of the top lawyers in the UK in the fields of international human rights and international criminal law. According to the rankings she is a “very effective and focused advocate, and somebody who is able to work very effectively with people." She is said to be a “human rights expert” and “key operator in the field of international human rights” who “attracts plaudits for her ability to handle complex [international criminal] proceedings in difficult cases”. According to commentators Amal is “extremely intelligent, really bright, and an exceptional lawyer”. The directory also highlights that "[s]he's very skilled and very thoughtful in the way she approaches a case, and has a great understanding of ICC [International Criminal Court] practices."
Amal served as a senior advisor to Kofi Annan when he was the UN’s Envoy on Syria. She also served as Counsel to the UN Inquiry on the use of armed drones led by the Special Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights. She is a member of the UK’s team of experts on preventing sexual violence in conflict zones. And she was recently appointed to the UK Attorney General’s expert panel set up to advise and represent the UK government in cases involving public international law.
Prior to joining the London Bar, Amal worked in The Hague with various UN-sponsored justice mechanisms including the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. She is also admitted to the New York Bar and practiced as a litigation attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York. She speaks English, French and (conversational) Arabic.

Cases

Amal's case profile includes:
  • Prosecutor v Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. International counsel for Reuters and for Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists who were convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison in Myanmar following their reporting on crimes committed against Rohingyas by the Myanmar forces (Insein district court Prosecutor v Wa Lone Prosecutor v Wa Lone in Yangon, Myanmar).
  • Young v. Attorney-General (NZ) & Ministry of Defence (UK). Advising the UK Ministry of Defence on the scope of state immunity under domestic and international law in a claim before New Zealand courts of alleged human rights violations allegedly committed by members of the armed forces. 
  • Dexter Eddie Johnson v. Republic of Ghana. Representing Ghanaian citizen, Dexter Eddie Johnson, in an application before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights claiming violations of his human rights as a result of the mandatory imposition of the death penalty for murder under Ghanaian law.
  • Prosecutor v ISIS. Representing a group of Iraqi victims, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, seeking accountability for genocide and other atrocities perpetrated by ISIS against the Yazidi community. Please click here, here and here for media coverage, and here and here for videos of UN speeches and CNN interview.
  • Khadija Ismayilova v Azerbaijan. Representing award-winning journalist subject to politically-motivated prosecution by the Azeri regime (European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg). Please click here and here for media coverage.
  • Mohamed Nasheed v The Maldives.  Representing the Maldives’ former president who had been subject to an unfair and politically-motivated trial (UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention). Please click here for media coverage.
  • Tymoshenko v Ukraine. Representing Yulia Tymoshenko, former Ukrainian Prime Minister, in human rights claim concerning her politically-motivated prosecution and detention in Ukraine (European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg). Watch BBC interview here.
  • Prosecutor v Mohamed Fahmy. Journalist from Al Jazeera English television network detained in Egypt following an unfair trial (Cairo Court of Appeal and Egypt Supreme Court). Please click here for media coverage.
  • Cambodia v Thailand. Representing Cambodia in inter-state territorial claim concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear. (International Court of Justice, The Hague). Please click here for judgment, and media coverage.
  • Prosecutor v Senussi and Gaddafi. Representing Abdallah Al Senussi, former Libyan intelligence chief, arguing that he should be put on trial in The Hague for alleged crimes against humanity perpetrated in Libya (International Criminal Court, The Hague).
  • Perincek v Switzerland. Representing the Republic of Armenia intervening as a third party in a case concerning denial of the Armenian genocide (European Court of Human Rights, Strasbourg). Please click here for media coverage and video of submissions. 
  • Sweden v Assange. Representing Julian Assange, head of Wikileaks, in extradition proceedings (City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, London).  Please click here for media coverage. 
  • Parthenon Marbles. Advising the Greek Government on the return of cultural property – the Parthenon Marbles - from the United Kingdom to Greece. Please click here for media coverage.
  • Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo v Philippines. Representing the former President of the Philippines in a human rights claim challenging her detention in Manila before the United Nations.
  • R (oao Bancoult) v FCO (No.2). Representing Mr Bancoult in proceedings concerning the removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Islands in 1971 and their right to return (UK Supreme Court). Please click here for media coverage.
  • Ireland v UK.  Instructed to advise the ‘hooded men’ on an application by the Republic of Ireland for revision of a 1978 decision by the European Court of Human Rights on torture   Please click here for media coverage.
  • Prosecutor v Ayyash et al. Member of the prosecuting team in case against four persons accused of assassinating former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri (Special Tribunal for Lebanon, The Hague).
  • Prosecutor v Milosevic. Judicial assistant to Judge Patrick Robinson, Presiding Judge in the trial of former President of  Serbia for international crimes allegedly committed in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia including crimes against humanity and genocide. (UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, The Hague). 
  • Merck (MSDIA) v Ecuador. Assistant to the Tribunal in UNCITRAL arbitration concerning a claim of denial of justice by a US company against Ecuador (Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague).

Appointments

Amal has also been appointed to a number of international human rights investigations and conflict-resolution panels. She is or has been:

Teaching and Training

Amal is a Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School, where she co-teaches the Human Rights course with Professor Sarah Cleveland.
Amal regularly devises and delivers training to judges, state officials and UN investigators on international criminal law and human rights.

Direct Access

Amal can be instructed directly in suitable cases under the Bar’s Direct Access scheme.

Contractual Terms

Amal accepts instructions under the Bar Council Standard Contractual Terms. For enquiries regarding potential legal representation, please email Sian Wilkins at s.wilkins@doughtystreet.co.uk. For other enquiries, please email personalasst@icloud.com.
Public International Law
Amal worked as a judicial assistant to judges at the International Court of Justice in 2004-2005. Since then she has represented clients in a number of cases involving public international law.
She has represented the government of Cambodia in a dispute against Thailand concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear before the International Court of Justice. She also regularly provides advice to governments and individuals on various issues relating to public international law including treaty obligations, territorial disputes, immunities, law of the sea and prospects for filing claims in judicial fora. For instance, Amal advised the Greek Government on the return of cultural property (the Parthenon Marbles) from the UK. And she advised the UK Ministry of Defence on the scope of state immunity under domestic and international law in a claim before New Zealand courts of alleged human rights violations allegedly committed by members of the armed forces.
Amal also has experience in international arbitration cases. She is currently appointed assistant to the Tribunal in Merck (MSDIA) v Ecuador, an UNCITRAL arbitration concerning a claim of denial of justice by a US company against Ecuador (Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague).
International Criminal Law
Amal has worked on cases at the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Her cases include:
  • Prosecutor v Senussi and Gaddafi. Represent Abdallah Al Senussi, former Libyan intelligence chief, in case of alleged crimes against humanity, with co-counsel Ben Emmerson QC and Rodney Dixon (International Criminal Court, The Hague)
  • Prosecutor v Ayash et al. Member of the prosecution team in case against four defendants accused of assassinating former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri (Special Tribunal for Lebanon, The Hague)
  • Prosecutor v Milosevic. Judicial assistant to Judge Patrick Robinson, Presiding Judge in the trial of the former President of Serbia for international crimes including genocide in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia (ICTY, The Hague)
She regularly advises clients on cross-jurisdictional criminal matters and cases involving INTERPOL red notices. She has also provided advice to victim groups seeking to initiate prosecutions in English courts under the ICC Act and has represented clients subject to UN sanctions and asset freezes.
International Human Rights Law
Amal has represented individuals before the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee and regularly provides advice to individuals, governments and NGOs on human rights. Recent cases include:
  • Representing Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, two Reuters journalists who were convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison in Myanmar following their reporting on crimes committed against Rohingyas by the Myanmar forces
  • Representing Ghanaian citizen, Dexter Eddie Johnson, in an application before the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights claiming violations of his human rights as a result of the mandatory imposition of the death penalty for murder under Ghanaian law.
  • Representing Nadia Murad and other Yazidi ISIS survivors who are seeking accountability for genocide and other atrocities, perpetrated by ISIS against the Yazidi community
  • Representing Maldives’ former president Mohamed Nasheed in a claim before the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concerning his politically-motivated unfair trial and unlawful detention
  • Representing award-winning journalist Khadija Ismayilova in a claim before the European Court of Human Rights concerning her politically-motivated prosecution by the Azeri regime
  • Representing Armenia as a third party intervener before the European Court of Human Rights in a case concerning freedom of expression and denial of genocide;
  • Representing the former President of Ukraine, Yulia Tymoshenko in a claim before the European Court of Human Rights concerning  her politically-motivated prosecution and detention;
  • Instructed to advise the ‘hooded men’ on an application by the Republic of Ireland for revision of a 1978 decision by the European Court of Human Rights on torture
  • Representing Mohamed Fahmy, a  journalist who worked for Al Jazeera English detained in Egypt following the unfair ‘Al Jazeera trial’ in Cairo;
  • Representing the former President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in a claim before the United Nations Human Rights Bodies concerning her unlawful pre-trial detention;
  • An application for damages from the UN on behalf of Roma victims of lead poisoning at a UN camp in Kosovo.
Amal has also been appointed to a number of international human rights investigations and conflict-resolution panels. She is or has been:
  • Counsel to the Inquiry led by UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson QC into the use of drones in counter-terrorism operations in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories;
  • Adviser to Kofi Annan, the Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League on Syria (P4 UN Political Officer);
  • Legal adviser to the head of the UN commission investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri and other terrorist attacks in Lebanon (P3 UN Legal Officer);
  • Legal adviser to the King of Bahrain in connection with the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry headed by Professor Cherif Bassiouni;
  • Rapporteur for the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute fact-finding mission to Egypt after the revolution in 2011;
  • Member of Expert Panel of Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative formed by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague to gather evidence of sexual crimes committed in conflict zones.
Extradition
Amal has defended clients in extradition proceedings involving European Arrest Warrants as well as "Part II" extradition requests. This has included representing (with Geoffrey Robertson QC and John Jones) the head of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, in extradition proceedings in the UK.
Public Law and Civil Liberties
Amal represented (with Edward Fitzgerald QC and Paul Harris SC) Mr Bancoult, a Chagossian, in proceedings before the UK Supreme Court concerning the removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Islands in 1971 and their right to return, (R (oao Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office (No.2)). She also worked with Richard Hermer QC and Philippa Kaufman QC representing members of the Mau Mau Kenyan tribe alleging torture during British Colonial rule in Kenya (Mutua and others v The Foreign and Commonwealth Office).
Crime
Amal has defended clients in criminal cases in Magistrates Court and Crown Courts in London. This includes cases involving violent, sexual and financial crimes. She has also provided advice on a number of cross-jurisdictional criminal matters and advice on the prospects of domestic prosecution under the ICC Act.
Dual-qualified as an English barrister and a New York litigation attorney, Amal also practiced for several years at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's New York office, where she was a member of the Criminal Defence and Investigations Group. During this time, she represented clients in complex criminal investigations and litigation before state and federal courts, including the criminal probe of Enron and Arthur Andersen.
Publications

Books

Book Chapters, Articles and Blogs

Teaching and Training
  • Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School, teaching Human Rights law (New York, 2015 - current)
  • Trainer, with UN prosecutors, for Bahraini Judiciary Human Rights Training Programme focusing on international human rights law (Manama, 2014)
  • Trainer, International Bar Association, Training Program in International Human Rights Law for Tunisian Judges (Tunis, December 2012)
  • Devised and delivered training program to UN investigators on international criminal procedure, elements of crimes and modes of responsibility for international crimes (Beirut and The Hague, 2007-2009)
  • Guest Lecturer at universities in UK and US, including London School of Economics, SOAS, New School, and University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill).
  • Regular presentations at legal conferences and seminars.