Elia Alexiou
Dr., Senior Research Fellow
alexiou@mpil.de
Tel. +49 (6221) 482-249
Main Fields of Research:
International Law; International Legal Theory; Global Constitutionalism; Human Rights; Refugee and Asylum Law; International Law and Emotions
Academic Career:
Since 2025: Qualification 'Associate Professor of Public Law' in France (Qualification CNU - Maître de conférences en droit public)
Since 2024 Senior Research Fellow at MPIL
2023-2024 UN Consultant at UNHCR France (Quality Control Initiative)
Visiting Scholar at MPIL (Max Planck Fellowship)
2021-2023 Senior Lecturer / Guest Lecturer in International Law,
Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas & Sciences Po
2018-2021 UNHCR-appointed Asylum Judge (Greece, 2nd instance)
2017-2019 Senior Lecturer in EU Law, Université catholique de Lille
2015-2017 Lecturer in Public Law (ATER), Université Paris Nanterre
2015 Field Assistant, UNHCR Greece (Child Protection)
2013-2014 Visiting Scholar - Research Fellow, Columbia Law School
UN Intern, Secretariat of the United Nations (Youth Envoy)
2010-2013 Research & Teaching Fellow (contrat doctoral),
Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas
2012 Teaching Fellow, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Since 2011 Attorney-At-Law, Athens Bar Association
Education
- PhD in Public Law, Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas (PhD thesis: Le constitutionnalisme global: Une étude de l'évolution de la pensée constitutionnaliste en droit international)
- MA in Public International Law, Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas ("Master 2 Recherche Droit international public", Master thesis: Le patrimoine commun de l'humanité)
- LLB in Law, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens (IKY national scholarship - Erasmus in Comparative Law at Université Lumières Lyon 2)
Recent Publications
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"Rien qu'une étoile filante?: L'apport du constitutionnalisme global au renouvellement du droit international".
In: Les Cahiers Portalis (Presses Universitaires d'Aix-Marseille) 15, 133-145 (2025).
https://droit.cairn.info/revue-les-cahie...
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'The Revival of the ICJ's Advisory Function: Enhanced or Contested Legitimacy?'.
In: International Community Law Review (Brill Nijhoff) 27, 1-26 (2025). doi: 10.1163/18719732-BJA10158.
https://brill.com/view/journals/iclr/aop...
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"Mare Liberum: Les sources de la pensée de Grotius dans l'Antiquité classique". In: L'histoire du droit de la mer, la mer dans l'histoire du droit. Société d'histoire du droit, Toulon 2025,
1-23, forthcoming.
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"Le constitutionnalisme global". In: Les nouveaux constitutionnalismes,
V. Barbe & B. Ridard (eds) (ed.). L'Epitoge, Paris 2025,
1-21, forthcoming.
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'Global Constitutional Principles'. In: The Handbook of International Law, O. De Frouville & S. Jamal (eds.). Wiley, Paris 2026,
1-20, forthcoming.
Further Publications
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"Arrivée 'avant' ou 'après' le 20 mars 2016? La catégorisation des réfugiés en Grèce dans le cadre de la Déclaration UE-Turquie". In: La catégorisation des acteurs du droit d'asile,
E. D'Halluin & B. Taxil C. Billet (ed.). Mare & Martin, Paris 2021,
103-122.
https://www.mareetmartin.com/livre/la-ca...
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'Who's Afraid of the European Demos? The Uneasy Relationship between the European Union and Referendums'. In: The Euro-crisis as a Multidimensional Systemic Failure of the EU: The Crisis Behind the Crisis,
E. Nanopoulos & F. Vergis (ed.). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2019,
173-218.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cri...
Presentations
24 Nov 2025
Reforming Asylum Systems? Echoes from the Trump Administration Event on the margins of the 80th Session of the UN GA
MPIL, Heidelberg (Monday Meeting)
20 Oct 2025
The ICJ Advisory Opinion on Climate Change: Marking a New Era for Climate Justice and the Advisory Function in International Law
MPIL, Heidelberg (Monday Meeting)
28 Apr 2025 - 30 Apr 2025
Bringing History Before Courts: A Comparative Perspective
Conference 'The Future of Remedies Against Immunity: Ways out of the German-Italian Stalemate', co-organised by MPIL, Catholic University of Lille and the University of Torino, Villa Vigoni, German-Italian Centre for the European Dialogue
Villa Vigoni, Menaggio (lake Como), Italy
30 May 2024 - 02 Juni 2024
Mare Liberum: Les sources de la pensée de Grotius dans l'Antiquité classique
Journées internationales de la Société d'histoire du droit 2024 'L'histoire du droit dans la mer, la mer dans l'histoire du droit'
University of Toulon, France
25 Mar 2024
L'apport du constitutionnalisme global au renouvellement du droit international
Journée d'études 'Global Administrative Law et Constitutionnalisme global: déclin ou renouveau?', CREDIMI
University of Bourgogne, Dijon, France
09 Jul 2020 - 10 Juli 2022
EU Referendums and Democratic Crisis
Research programme REDEM (Reconstructing Democracy in Times of Crisis: A Voter-centered Perspective), Sciences PO CEVIPOF
Online workshops
16 Nov 2018
La déclaration conjointe UE-Turquie du 18 mars 2016 et sa nature juridique contestée
Projet ARRECO (Accueil et Relocalisation des Réfugiés en Europe: Catégorisation et Opérationnalisation), Colloque 'Catégorisation des acteurs du droit d'asile'
University of Nantes, France
21 Oct 2017
Revolutions and International Law: Balancing between Legality and Legitimacy
ESIL Colloquium 'The 1917 Russian Revolution and its Impact on Law: International and Comparative Perspectives'
University of Saint Petersburg, Russia
16 Jan 2017
Global Constitutionalism and the Forum-Shopping Phenomenon among Multiple Public Legal Orders
Guest Speaker
University of Hamburg, Germany
26 Aug 2016
A Tale of Fear and Hope: Multilateral Conventions as Signs of a Global Social Contract based on Collective Emotions'
Semphitidia Seminar 'Theory and History of International Law. The Passions of International Law: Affective Perspectives, States' Emotions and Political Feelings in the History of Jus Gentium', Bilingual Colloquium 'Emotions and International Law - Emociones y derecho internacional'
University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
31 Mar 2016 - 01 Apr 2016
'European Union and Referendums: Can the EU Take 'No' for an Answer?'
Cambridge Center for European Legal Studies (CELS), Conference 'The Euro-Crisis as a Multi-dimensional Failure of the EU'
University of Cambridge, UK
26 Jun 2014 - 28 Juni 2014
Global Public Law: An Emerging New Framework and its Paradigm-Shift Potential
ICON-S Inaugural Conference 'Rethinking the Boundaries of Public Law and Public Space'
EUI and University of Florence, Italy
Teaching
2025 - 2026
Catholic University of Lille
2025
Université Paris Nanterre (Guest lecturer)
2023 - 2024
Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas
2020 - 2022
Sciences Po Exchange Programme (Guest Lecturer)
2018 - 2019
Université catholique de Lille
2017 - 2018
Université catholique de Lille
2015 - 2018
Université Paris Nanterre
2011 - 2012
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Honours
Miscellaneous
Languages
Greek, English, French, Italian, Spanish