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Dr Mariagiulia Giuffré

Reader in Law

Law, Criminology & Policing

Dr Mariagiulia Giuffre

Department: Law, Criminology & Policing

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Profile

Biography

 

Dr Mariagiulia Giuffré (PhD, LLM) is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Law and founding director of the International Justice and Human Rights Centre at the Department of Law, Criminology and Policing, Edge Hill University (UK).

She is also a Research Affiliate to the Refugee Law Initiative (RLI), School of Advanced Study, University of London, an Associate to ASGI (Italian Association for Juridical Studies on Immigration), and a Member of the Women in Refugee Law (WiRL) network.

She received her PhD in International and European Law (Distinction and Doctor Europaeus Certificate) from the School of International Studies of the University of Trento (Italy) in May 2014.

Over the last years, Dr Giuffré has been a Visiting Researcher at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, and at the Centre of Migration Law at the Radboud University of Nijmegen. She was a also a recipient of the Schumann Fellowship and a WiRe (Women in Research) Fellowship at the School of Law of the University of Münster.

She has been a Guest Lecturer in a number of universities, including University of Oxford, College of Europe, Queen Mary, University of London, the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in Sanremo, Lund University, Naples University “L’Orientale”, University Bicocca of Milan, the University of Urbino and the University of Münster. From October 2010 to September 2013, she has been affiliated as a Guest Researcher to the Faculty of Law, Lund University where she has taught on the LLM programs in Maritime Law and International Human Rights Law.

Dr Giuffré is a Member of the Editorial Committee of the “European Journal of Migration and Law”, a Review Editor of the Journal “Frontiers in Human Dynamics”, and a Member of the editorial committee of the book series “Un’anima per il diritto”

 

Training and Consultancies

  • Dr Giuffré has conducted training to judges and staff of the European Court of Human Rights and has been consulted as a legal analyst by European Union bodies, the UK Parliament, and a number of law firms and NGOs on human rights and migration, law of the sea, citizenship, extradition, and the law and practice of search and rescue (SAR) at sea.
  • In 2023, she has been consulted by the European Commission, which is preparing the 2023 Rule of Law Report. Indeed, on behalf of ASGI, she has contributed to the Rule of Law Report 2023 published by the Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties).
  • She has also been invited by the Special Rapporteur on Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Internally Displaced Persons and Migrants in Africa to a validation meeting of the Study on African Responses to the Issue of Migrants and the Protection of Migrants in Africa and the development of African Guiding Principles on the Human Rights of all Migrants. The objective of the meeting was to contribute to improve and finalise these documents for submission to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights for consideration and adoption.
  • She is also responsible for the training programme on migration by sea, developed at the Sanremo Institute of Humanitarian Law and addressed to government and civil society officials at a global level. The Institute has so far contributed to the Mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and other UN agencies by promoting International Law, policies, guidelines and best practices on the effective protection of persons of concern.

Recent Research Projects and Grants

  • Principal Investigator of an interdisciplinary project titled “Externalizing Border Management and Refugee Rights“ and funded by the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF) Flexible Grant for Small Groups.(2022-2023).
  • Partner to the “European and international human rights at sea” (EHRAS) project, funded under the EU Erasmus scheme + Jean Monnet Actions in the field of Higher Education Teaching and Research, and coordinated by Prof. Papanicolopulu (2022-2025)
  • Recipient of two Grants to conduct research at the University of Münster on functional jurisdiction, externalization of borders, and Sustainable Development Goals. These include the Karina und Erich Schumann Centre for Advanced International Legal Studies Schumann Fellowship and the Women in Research (WiRe) Scholarship.
  • Principal Investigator of an interdisciplinary project on “Europe-Africa Cooperation: Refugee Rights and the New Frontiers of Externalization of Migration Controls” funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) The project included fieldwork in Ethiopia and Tunisia (2019-2021).
  • Member of the Group of Experts for the Project Sciabaca/Oruka,led by ASGI. The project explores current practices of externalization of borders with the primary goal to carry out research, train lawyers in African countries of origin of migrants, and prepare strategic litigation on migrants and refugee rights before domestic, foreign and international courts/ UN human rights committees, also together with lawyers in countries of origin and transit of migrants in Africa.
  • Recipient of the Student Opportunity Fund(2021-2022) to cover three research internships for EHU students working on international law, human rights and migration law.
  • Co-Investigator of an international research project on “Administrative Detention of Palestinians in Israel.”, and member of a project titled “Undesirable and Unreturnable? Excluded Asylum-seekers and Other Migrants Suspected of Serious Criminality but Who Cannot Be Removed.” The project, funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council(AHRC), was jointly convened by the Center for International Criminal Justice (Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) and the Refugee Law Initiative, University of London.

Monograph

Dr Giuffré’s monograph on the Readmission of Asylum Seekers under International Law (Hart Publishing) was published in February 2020.

This book has been deemed a “compulsory reading for all ministers of interior and their advisors when considering their international obligations to refugees.”

Reviews also say this book “deftly addresses the recent rise in bilateral readmission agreements, triggered by the political swing to the right in many European states… It is worth a read, not only for those interested and academics, but especially for policy-makers.”

“It sheds an innovative light on the area of interaction between migration control and refugee protection”

“A major achievement…all of us researching and teaching international and European refugee law should be grateful to M. Giuffré for her valuable insights not only for the readmission of asylum seekers in international and European law but also for inviting us to rethink cooperation in international law through legal means.”

 

Teaching

  • LAW2001/3051 European Union Constitutional Law
  • Law2004/3052 European Union Substantive Law
  • LAW3048 Refugee and Migration Law
  • LLM4014 Public International Law
  • Law2068 Public International Law

 

Public/media engagement

Mariagiulia has undertaken several media engagements, including on Radio Radicale, SwissInfo, Rights! Blog and the online outlet Open where she provided updates and expert insight on topical issues concerning pushbacks at sea, deportation of aliens, and case law on human rights of migrants.

Research interests

  • International and European Law
  • Human Rights Law
  • Refugee Law
  • Migration Law and Policy
  • Law of the Sea

 

Publications

 

Books

 

Book Chapters

  • Giuffre’ M, ‘Search and rescue obligations at sea in multi-jurisdiction contexts’, Oxford Handbook of Human Rights at Sea (OUP, forthcoming)
  • Giuffré M, (with Moreno-Lax V), ‘The Raise of Consensual Containment: From “Contactless Control” to ‘Contactless Responsibility’ for Migratory Flows’, in Satvinder Juss (eds) The Research Handbook on International Refugee Law (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019)
  • Giuffré M, “Access to Asylum at Sea? Non-refoulement and a Comprehensive Approach to Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations” in V Moreno Lax and E Papastavridis (eds) Boat Refugees’ and Migrants at Sea: A Comprehensive Approach Integrating Maritime Security with Human Rights (Brill 2017)
  • Giuffré M. (2015) ‘The Obligation to Readmit and the Relationship between Interstate and EU Readmission Agreements’, in Ippolito F. and Trevisanut S. (eds.), Migration in Mare Nostrum: Mechanisms of International Cooperation, Cambridge University Press
  • Giuffré, M. (2015), ‘Access to Protection: Negotiating Rights and Diplomatic Assurances under Memoranda of Understanding’, in Gauci, J.P., Giuffré M. and Tsourdi, L., (eds.), ‘Exploring the Boundaries of Refugee Law: Current Protection Challenges’, Brill, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
  • Gauci, J.P., Giuffré M. and Tsourdi, L., (eds.) (2015) ‘Introduction’, in Gauci, J.P., Giuffré M. and Tsourdi, L., (eds.), ‘Exploring the Boundaries of Refugee Law: Current Protection Challenges’, Brill, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
  • Giuffré, et al. (2006), ‘Il Movimento Indipendentista Armato ETA’, in Sources of Conflict and Prospects for Peace in the Mediterranean Basin within the North-South Relations: Acta from Peace Studies Conference’, in Saija, M. (ed.), ‘Peace Studies Conference’, Giappichelli.

 

Journal Articles, Papers and Reports

 

Conference Papers, Presentations and Training

 

2022:

  • Refugee Law Initiative Annual Conference: “EU-Tunisia Cooperation on Border Management and Rescue at Sea: Assessing Tunisia as a ‘Place of Safety’ and a ‘Safe Country’”
  • Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo, Lecture on Migration by Sea as part of a training programme of government, IOs and NGOs officers
  • University Bicocca of Milan, Lecture on migration and protection of life at sea
  • Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) Conference on “The role of civil society in protecting refugees and migrant workers in and from the Arab world: partnership across the Mediterranean”
  • Centro per la Riforma dello Stato (CRS) Conference “La guerra che verrà non è la prima: Il Diritto Internazionale dopo il Conflitto in Ucraina”.

 

2021:

  • European Court of Human Rights

Discussant on Immigration detention and the right to liberty as part of a training of judges and legal officers of the ECtHR

  • ESIL Conference on “The Externalisation of EU migration policies in light of EU constitutional principles and values: a global actor to trust?”. Talk on Extraterritorial jurisdiction at sea
  • Istanbul Centre of International Law, Lecture on Cooperation with third countries on migration control
  • University Bicocca of Milan, Lecture on The Readmission of Asylum Seekers and EU law
  • University of Urbino, Doctoral School, Lecture on Readmission agreements and refugee rights
  • 19 September 2019: Training at the European Court of Human Rights, on “Counter-terrorism and the ECtHR: State of Emergency and Deportation with Assurances in Context”
  • 3-5 June 2019: Annual RLI Conference, University of London, on Externalization of European Borders: State responsibility under human rights law European Court of Human Rights
  • 17-19 May 2019: SABIR Festival, ASGI, on ‘Ports’ closure and push-backs by proxy: What role for the European Court of Human Rights?”
  • 13 March 2019: College of Europe, Warsaw, on “Is soft law really the solution to manage migration?”
  • 1 February 2018: Odysseus Network 3rd Annual Conference, Université Libre de Bruxelles
  • 7-8 November 2017: Workshop ‘Tackling Root Causes?
  • EU Aid and Governance to Control Migration’, University of Nottingham
  • 6 October 2017: Scholars-Practitioners Workshop ‘Italia, Europa e la Sfida della governance migratoria: Un confronto tra gli accademici e i pratici’, University of Pisa
  • 5-7 June 2017: Annual RLI Conference, University of London
  • 4-6 May 2017: Annual EUSA Conference, Miami
  • 29 June -1 July 2016: Conference on ‘The Future of Refugee Law? Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Studies (SAS), University of London
  • 27-28 June 2016: Conference on ‘Europe’s crisis: What future for immigration and asylum law and policy?’, Queen Mary, University of London
  • 25-26 January 2016: Conference on Policy challenges around excluded asylum-seekers and other migrants suspected of serious criminality but who cannot be removed, School of Advanced Studies (SAS), University of London
  • 26 November 2015: Book Launch event for the volume titled ‘Exploring the Boundaries of Refugee Law’ (Brill 2015) edited by Gauci, Giuffre’ & Tsourdi (School of Advanced Studies (SAS), University of London
  • 9-10 October 2015: IELF 2015 – Europe’s Shared Burden: Collective Responsibility for Migrants at Sea, University College Dublin
  • 2 September 2015: ‘Refugee Crisis in the Mediterranean: European Response and State Duties at Sea’, Society of Legal Scholars Conference, York University
  • 17 July 2015: ‘How Should Europe Respond to the Mediterranean Refugee Crisis?’ Refugee Week Panel Discussion. University of Oxford, Refugee Studies Centre
  • 19 May 2015: ‘Undesirable and Unreturnable?: Diplomatic Assurances and Human Rights Barriers to Removal’. University of Oxford, Refugee Studies Centre
  • 27 March 2015: ‘Expelling Undesirable Foreigners: The Challenge of Human Rights’, Centre of International Criminal Justice, Free University Amsterdam (Netherlands)
  • 20 March 2015: ‘Point of Non-Return? Deportation with Assurances and MoUs’, University of Athens (Greece)
  • 23 October 2014: ‘Diplomatic Assurances, MoUs, and Human Rights Barriers to Removal’, Workshop: ‘Undesirable and unreturnable’: the UK’s response to excluded asylum seekers and other migrants suspected of serious criminality’, Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, London, UK,
  • 6-7 October 2014: ‘Undesirable and Unreturnable: Diplomatic Assurances in Context’, L/UMIN Symposium, Lund University.
  • 23-24 June 2014: ‘Refugee Rights on the High Seas: Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations and Access to Protection’, Boat Refugees’ and Migrants at Sea: A Comprehensive Approach Integrating Maritime Security with Human Rights – School of Advanced Studies (SAS), University of London.
  • 24 October 2013: ‘Bilateral Agreements Linked to Readmission and Refugee Rights: A Story in Three Parts’, Faculty of Law, Lund University.
  • 5 December 2012: ‘Negotiating Refugee Rights and Diplomatic Assurances under Memoranda of Understanding’, Refugee Law Initiative Postgraduate Conference, University of London.
  • 3-5 September 2012: ‘Standard Readmission Agreements and Refugee Rights: from a Critique to a Proposal’, University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) Conference, Passau.
  • 5 May 2011: ‘La Politica UE di Esternalizzazione dei Controlli Migratori alla luce della crisi Nord-Africana del 2011’, Associazione Alumni, Faculty of Law, Trento University
  • 28 March 2011), ‘The Right to Asylum on the High Seas’, School of International Studies, Trento University
  • 16 February 2011: ‘Bilateral Agreements Linked to Readmission and Refugee Protection Responsibilities beyond Borders: the Italy’s Push-backs to Libya in Context’, Faculty of Law, Lund University.
  • 17 June 2010: ‘Agreements Linked to Readmission: An Overview’, Centre for Migration Law, Radboud University, Nijmegen.