Carmen Cheung

Carmen Cheung is the Executive Director of the Center for Justice and Accountability. She has acted as counsel in public interest cases in the U.S. and Canada, including litigation over the use of torture and extraordinary rendition by the U.S. government, and an inquiry into the transfer of Afghan detainees by Canadian Forces to risk of torture. Carmen has made submissions at all levels of federal court in the U.S., including the Supreme Court of the United States, and has also appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada. In addition, she has testified on matters relating to security, anti-terrorism and human rights before committees of the Canadian Parliament and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Prior to joining CJA, Carmen was a Professor of Global Practice at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, where she also served as Executive Director of the Global Justice Lab and Associate Director of the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict, and Justice. Her teaching and research focused on security and human rights, and state responses to threats to public safety and security. Carmen began her legal practice as a litigation associate with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, where she worked on civil, criminal and regulatory matters. She received her JD from Columbia University and graduated with an AB in Social Studies from Harvard University.