Dr Aristi Volou
Staff details
.jpg)
Dr Volou's research lies in the field of international human rights law.
Dr Aristi Volou joined Goldsmiths as a Lecturer in Law. She was previously teaching Public Law at Queen Mary, University of London, where she also completed the Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA). Dr Volou also taught at the both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the University of Leicester, BPP University in London and at the Riga Graduate School of Law.
Dr Volou completed her PhD in International Human Rights Law at the University of Leicester, passing her viva with no corrections. She held research positions at the University of Leicester and at the Centre for Fundamental Rights of the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin. Dr Volou also held a visiting fellowship from the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.
Dr Volou also acted as an Associate Editor of Oxford University Press Reports on International Law (UN Human Rights Law module).
Academic qualifications
- LLB Law, University of Leicester 2012
- LLM in International Human Rights Law, University of Leicester 2013
- PhD in International Human Rights Law, University of Leicester 2020
Teaching and supervision
Dr Volou leads on and teaches the following modules at Goldsmiths:
Human Rights Law and Clinic (UG)
Criminal Justice and Human Rights (PG)
International Human Rights Law: Theory and Practice (PG)
International Human Rights Law: Advanced Themes and Contemporary Debates (PG)
Dr Volou welcomes PhD proposals on the topics of social and economic rights and regime interaction in international human rights law.
n/a
Research interests
Dr Volou's research interests lie in the field of international human rights law. She is particularly interested in comparative human rights law, including interactions among different human rights regimes, and social and economic rights.
Featured publications
The International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights: An Interactional Approach
Monograph (forthcoming with Routledge)
2022:
Human Rights and General Principles: Beyond the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
Book chapter (with Katja S Ziegler)
2017:
The Protection of Socio-Economic Rights through the Canon of Civil and Political Rights: A Comparative Perspective
Journal article
2015:
Are Diplomatic Assurances Adequate Guarantees of Safety Against Torture and Ill-Treatment? The Pragmatic Approach of the Strasbourg Court
Journal article
Grants and awards
2022:
British Institute of International and Comparative Law Scholarship
Scholarship for participating in Intensive Course: Foundations of Public International Law
2018:
iCourts (University of Copenhagen) Scholarship
Scholarship for participating in PhD Summer School: International Law: Courts and Context
2017:
College of Social Sciences, Arts, and Humanities (University of Leicester) Postgraduate Fund 2017/18
Fund for attending training courses in the areas of PhD research
2012:
Claire Nicholson Memorial Prize
For the best performance in Family Law, awarded by the University of Leicester
2017:
Conference Grant by the Jean Monnet Module on the Law of Financial and Economic Governance in the EU of the University of Central Lancashire Cyprus
Grant to present a paper at the Jean Monnet Module Closing Academic Conference and Open Forum
2017:
Conference Grant by King’s College London and University of Durham
Grant to present a paper at the Durham University & King’s College London Doctoral Workshop in EU Law
Publications and research outputs
Book Section
Volou, Aristi and Ziegler, Katja S.. 2022. Human rights and general principles: beyond the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. In: Katja S. Ziegler; Paivi J. Neuvonen and Violeta Moreno-Lax, eds. Research Handbook on General Principles in EU Law: Constructing Legal Orders in Europe. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 327-349. ISBN 9781784712372
Article
Volou, Aristi. 2017. The Protection of Socio-Economic Rights through the Canon of Civil and Political Rights: A Comparative Perspective. Groningen Journal of International Law, 5(2), pp. 147-167. ISSN 2352-2674
Volou, Aristi. 2015. Are diplomatic assurances adequate guarantees of safety against torture and ill-treatment? The pragmatic approach of the Strasbourg Court. UCL Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, 4(1), pp. 32-54. ISSN 2052-1871
Digital
Volou, Aristi. 2024. The Relationship between Democracy and Human Rights: The Case for Socio-Economic Rights in the UK (and Beyond).
Volou, Aristi. 2022. When National Laws and Human Rights Standards Are at Odds: The British draft Bill of Rights and the Case of Positive Obligations.
Volou, Aristi. 2021. Feilazoo v. Malta: Immigration detention in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond and the right of individual petition.
Professional projects
Dr Volou volunteered at Just Fair, an NGO based in London which campaigns for social and economic rights, and completed a traineeship at the European Court of Human Rights. She also provided oral feedback to the Equality and Human Rights Commission on their report for the UK's 7th periodic review under the ICESCR as a member of the UK Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Network.
Research projects
2020-2021:
Leading Cases of the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies
CIVICA funded project developed during Dr Volou's post-doc at the Centre for Fundamental Rights of the Hertie School.
2021-2022:
Soft Courts, Hard Compliance? A Comparative Assessment of Denmark and Switzerland
Project developed during Dr Volou's post-doc at the Centre for Fundamental Rights of the Hertie School.
2021-2022:
Non Refoulement Decisions of the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies
Project developed during Dr Volou's post-doc at the Centre for Fundamental Rights of the Hertie School.
2018-2020:
General Principles of EU Law and Human Rights
Culminated in a book chapter co-authored with Katja S Ziegler.
2015-2017:
CharterClick
Project co-funded by the European Commission. Dr Volou was part of the UK research team (University of Leicester), exploring the use of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in UK case law.
Media engagements
2022:
When National Laws and Human Rights Standards Are at Odds: The British Draft Bill of Rights and the Case of Positive Obligations
Blog post
2021:
Feilazoo v Malta: Immigration Detention in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic and Beyond and the Right of Individual Petition
Blog post
2020:
Engagement Between Legal Orders in the Context of Socio-Economic Rights
Blog post
2014:
Diplomatic Assurances Against Torture and Other Ill-Treatment
Blog post
2017:
Comments on the Draft General Comment on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – Right to Life
Dr Volou provided comments on the Draft General Comment on Article 6 ICCPR of the UN Human Rights Committee.
2024:
The Relationship between Democracy and Human Rights: The Case for Socio-Economic Rights in the UK (and Beyond)
Short paper/blog post
Conferences and talks
2015:
Evolutive Interpretation: Has the ECtHR Really Gone Too Far? The Case of the Protection of Socio-Economic Rights
Conference contribution, Workshop on the European Court of Human Rights for Doctoral Students, University of Tampere
2013:
The Protection of Human Rights in Ex-Communist Societies: The Case of Armenia
Conference contribution, 14th Annual Student Human Rights Conference: Human Rights and Democracy: Two Sides of the Same Coin?, Human Rights Law Centre, University of Nottingham
2021:
Engagement Between Legal Orders in the Context of the International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights: Extent, Dynamics and Impact
Conference contribution, Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference
2021:
Engagement Between Legal Orders in the Context of the International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights: Extent, Dynamics and Impact
Conference contribution, Economic and Social Rights Academic Network: UK and Ireland Summer Workshop
2018:
A Conceptual Framework on the Interaction of Legal Orders in the Area of Human Rights Law
Conference contribution, Postgraduate Workshop on Comparative Law, British Association of Comparative Law
2017:
The Protection of Social Rights in the EU: The Role of the Interaction of Legal Orders
Conference contribution, Durham University & King’s College London Doctoral Workshop in EU Law: The State of the Union: Reform, Governance and Judicial Protection
2017:
The Weaknesses in the International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights
Conference contribution, Economic and Social Rights Academic Network: UK & Ireland Workshop
2017:
The Protection of Social Rights in the EU: The Role of the Interaction of Legal Orders
Conference contribution, Jean Monnet Module Closing Academic Conference and Open Forum: The Sustainability of Socio-Economic Rights in Crisis, University of Central Lancashire Cyprus
2017:
The Weaknesses in the International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights
Conference contribution, Challenging Human Rights Disenchantment: 50 Years On From the ICCPR and ICESCR, Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research, University of Sussex
2015:
The Protection of Socio-Economic Rights through the Canon of Civil and Political Rights
Conference contribution, Midlands Postgraduate Conference in Law, University of Leicester
2018:
General Principles and Human Rights
Conference contribution with Katja Ziegler, Workshop on Constructing Legal Orders in Europe: The General Principles of EU Law, Centre for European Law and Internationalisation, University of Leicester
2022:
The International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights: An Interactional Perspective
Talk at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law
2020:
Engagement between Legal Orders in the Context of the International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights: Extent, Dynamics and Impact
Talk at the Fundamental Rights Research Colloquium of the Centre for Fundamental Rights of the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin
2018:
A Conceptual Framework on the Interaction of Legal Orders in the Area of Human Rights Law
Talk at the Workshop on the Interaction of Legal Systems, organised by the Interaction of Legal Systems Research Centre of the University of Leiden
2017:
The International Protection of Socio-Economic Rights
Talk at Just Fair Event: Economic and Social Rights: From International Law to Everyday Life, held at the University of Leicester
2016:
When Can the Charter Be Applied? The View from the CJEU
Talk at the Workshop on Using the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, part of the CharterClick project, held at the University of Leicester
2024:
The Interactional Protection of SocioEconomic Rights
Research Seminar at the Department of Law, University of Cyprus
2024:
The Interactional Protection of SocioEconomic Rights
Conference Contribution, 2024 Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Conference, Common Good Foundation & Jersey Law Commission
Membership of Professional Bodies and Learned Societies
Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
Associate of the Centre for European Law and Internationalisation, University of Leicester
Member of the UK Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Network
Member of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law
Member of the Society of Legal Scholars
Member of the Economic and Social Rights Academic Network: UK & Ireland