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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

  • "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...
  • '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...
  • "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.
  • "Le constitutionnalisme global". In: Les nouveaux constitutionnalismes, V. Barbe & B. Ridard (eds) (ed.). L'Epitoge, Paris 2025, 1-21, forthcoming.
  • 'Global Constitutional Principles'. In: The Handbook of International Law, O. De Frouville & S. Jamal (eds.). Wiley, Paris 2026, 1-20, forthcoming.

Further Publications

  • "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...
  • '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

The Theories of International Law

Catholic University of Lille

2025

Le constitutionnalisme global

Université Paris Nanterre (Guest lecturer)

2023 - 2024

Droit international & Relations Internationales

Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas

2020 - 2022

International Organizations; The United Nations; International Refugee Law

Sciences Po Exchange Programme (Guest Lecturer)

Honours

Miscellaneous

Languages

Greek, English, French, Italian, Spanish