天美传媒

Principal Lecturer in Law and Director of Research

Dr Borelli specialises in public international law, with a particular focus on international and European human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law.

Dr Borelli is Portfolio Lead for the undergraduate and postgraduate Law programmes and is the Director of the Centre for Research in Law (CRiL). She is also the Academic Coordinator of the Refugee Legal Assistance Project (RLAP), which she co-founded in 2013.

Prior to joining the 天美传媒, she was a Research and Teaching Fellow at the Faculty of Laws, 天美传媒 College London (UCL) and before that a Research Fellow at the Catholic 天美传媒 of Milan. She currently holds a visiting position at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King鈥檚 College London (KCL).

Her research focuses on the protection of fundamental rights in the context of armed conflict and military operations abroad, counter-terrorism and human rights, and the compatibility of immigration control measures with international human rights standards.

Dr Borelli was previously lead investigator on a research project funded by the Families Together Programme which explored the UK legal framework on refugee family reunification, and has previously been involved in large scale collaborative projects, including a project on cultural diversity and human rights supported by the Italian Ministry for Universities and an EU-funded project investigating the impact of the decisions of international courts and tribunals on domestic prosecutions of mass atrocities (DOMAC).

She has also acted as an academic consultant for various human rights NGOs and in that capacity has been involved in a range of human rights cases, including before the European Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the UK House of Lords.

She has held visiting positions at the British Institute of Public International Law (BIICL), the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the 天美传媒 of Cambridge, the Faculty of Law at Reykjavik 天美传媒, King鈥檚 College London and the Universities of Trento and Parma, Italy.

Qualifications

• Degree in Law (laurea) - 天美传媒 of Parma
• Masters in International Relations - 天美传媒 of Bologna
• PhD in Public International Law - 天美传媒 of Milan
• Avvocato (non-practising) - Italian Bar
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)
• Accredited at OISC Level 2 (Asylum and protection) to provide immigration advice

Teaching Expertise

• Public International Law
• International Human Rights Law
• International Humanitarian Law
• Use of Force / War Law
• Foreign Relations Law
• European Human Rights Law
• Strategic Human Rights Litigation
• International Refugee Law

Research Interests

Current research interests include:

• The international protection of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
• Human rights in situations of armed conflict
• The extraterritorial application of international human rights obligations
• Counter-terrorism and human rights
• Cultural diversity and human rights (in particular issues relating to the right to manifest and practice one's religion)
• Access to justice for asylum seekers and refugees.
• UK immigration law (including, in particular, Family Reunion)

Dr Borelli currently supervises four doctoral students within the Centre for Research in Law and she is happy to consider supervising students in any of her areas of research interest, as listed above.

External Roles

• Member, Board of Trustees, Alliance for Lawyers at Risk (2024-present)
• Senior Research Fellow and Affiliated Faculty, Transnational Law Institute, Dickson Poon School of Law, King鈥檚 College London (2014 鈥� present)
• Member, Executive Committee, Alliance for Lawyers at Risk (2018 鈥� 2023)
• External Examiner, LLB (Hons) and LLB (Hons) Online, Robert Gordon 天美传媒, Aberdeen (2016-2020)
• Member, Lawyers Advisory Committee, Peace Brigades International UK (PBI UK) (2011-2018)
• Member, Peer Review College of the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) (2012-2015)
• Academic consultant to NGOs specialising in international human rights advocacy and strategic litigation
• Member of the Society of Legal Scholars, the International Law Association (British Branch) and the Human Rights Lawyers鈥� Association

Publications

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

• 鈥淩ight to Asylum and Prohibition of Collective Expulsion鈥� in I. Papanicolopolou and A. Petrig (eds.), Handbook on Human Rights at Sea (OUP, forthcoming)
• 鈥淎rticle 9 鈥� Conduct carried out in the absence or default of the official authorities鈥� in P. Galv茫o Teles, and P. Bodeau-Livinec (eds.), Commentary on the Articles on State Responsibility (OUP, forthcoming) (with S. Olleson)
• 鈥楾he Italian Response to Exploitation of Migrant Workers in the Agricultural Sector: Between Criminalization and Prevention鈥�, Italian Yearbook of International Law, vol. XXIX (2020) (with M.C. Vitucci) (available at )
• 鈥楶ushing Back Against Push-backs: A Right of Entry for Migrants and Asylum Seekers Unlawfully Prevented from Reaching Italian Territory?鈥�, Diritti umani e diritto internazionale, vol. 14(1) (2020), pp. 236-245 (available at )
• 鈥楨xtraordinary Rendition, Counter-Terrorism, and International Law鈥�, in B. Saul (ed.), Research Handbook on Terrorism and International Law (2nd) (Edward Elgar, 2020), pp. 336-353 (also 1st ed., 2014, pp. 361-378)
• 鈥楾he (Mis)-Use of General Principles of Law: Lex Specialis and the Relationship between International Human Rights Law and the Laws of Armed Conflict鈥�, in L. Pineschi (ed.), General Principles of Law 鈥� The Role of the Judiciary (Springer, 2015), pp. 265鈥�293 (available at )
• 鈥楯aloud v. The Netherlands and Hassan v. United Kingdom: Time for a principled approach in the application of the ECHR to military action abroad鈥�, Questions of International Law, vol. 2, issue 16 (2015), pp. 25鈥�43 (available at )
• 鈥楾roubled Waters in the Mare Nostrum: Interception and 鈥淧ush-backs鈥� in the Mediterranean and the European Convention on Human Rights鈥�, Uluslararas谋 Hukuk ve Politika 鈥� Review of International Law and Politics, vol. 10 (2014), pp. 29鈥�69, (with B. Stanford) (available at )
• 鈥楢rticle 8鈥�, in C.J. Tams and R. O鈥橩eefe (eds), The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property: A Commentary (Oxford 天美传媒 Press, 2013), pp. 124鈥�136 (with Simon Olleson)
• 鈥楢rticle 9鈥�, in C.J. Tams and R. O鈥橩eefe (eds), The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property: A Commentary (Oxford 天美传媒 Press, 2013), pp. 137鈥�151 (with Simon Olleson)
• 鈥楧omestic Investigation and Prosecution of Atrocities Committed during Military Operations: The Impact of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights鈥�, Israel Law Review, vol. 46 (2013), pp. 369鈥�404
• 鈥極f Veils, Crosses and Turbans: The European Court of Human Rights and the Protection of Cultural Diversity in Europe鈥�, in S. Borelli and F. Lenzerini (eds), Cultural Heritage, Cultural Rights, Cultural Diversity: New Developments in International Law (Martinus Nijhoff, 2012), pp. 55-82
• 鈥楻endition, Torture and Intelligence Cooperation鈥�, in H. Born, I. Leigh, A. Wills (eds), International Intelligence Cooperation: Challenges, Oversight and the Role of Law (Routledge, 2011)
• 鈥楥ountermeasures: Obligations Relating to Human Rights and Humanitarian Law鈥�, in J. Crawford, A. Pellet and S. Olleson (eds), The Law of International Responsibility (Oxford 天美传媒 Press, 2010), pp. 1177-1196 (with Simon Olleson)
• 鈥楢llontanamento dello straniero dal territorio e norme internazionali per la tutela dei diritti umani鈥�, in L. Zagato (ed.), Verso una disciplina comune europea del diritto d'asilo (CEDAM, 2006), pp. 99-122
• 鈥楨stradizione, espulsione e tutela dei diritti fondamentali鈥�, in L. Pineschi (ed.), La tutela internazionale dei diritti umani: norme, garanzie, prassi (Giuffr猫, 2006), pp. 773-800
• 鈥楲e riserve ai trattati sui diritti umani鈥�, in L. Pineschi (ed.), La tutela internazionale dei diritti umani: norme, garanzie, prassi (Giuffr猫, 2006), pp. 724-751
• 鈥楥asting Light on the Legal Black Hole: International Law and Detentions Abroad in the 鈥淲ar on Terror鈥濃��, International Review of the Red Cross, vol. 87 (2005), no. 857, pp. 39-68
• 鈥楾he Treatment of Terrorist Suspects Captured Abroad: Human Rights and Humanitarian Law鈥�, in A. Bianchi (ed.), Enforcing International Law Norms Against Terrorism (Hart Publishing, 2004), pp. 39-61
• 鈥楾he Rendition of Terrorist Suspects to the United States: Human Rights and the Limits of International Cooperation鈥�, in A. Bianchi (ed.), Enforcing International Law Norms Against Terrorism (Hart Publishing, 2004), pp. 331-373
• 鈥楾errorism and Human Rights: Treatment of Terrorist Suspects and Limits on International Cooperation鈥�, Leiden Journal of International Law, vol. 16 (2003), pp. 803-820

Edited Volumes

• Borelli and F. Lenzerini (eds), Cultural Heritage, Cultural Rights, Cultural Diversity: New Developments in International Law (Martinus Nijhoff, 2012)

Shorter Pieces / Book Reviews

• 鈥淪tate Responsibility鈥�, in Oxford Bibliographies in International Law (ed. Tony Carty. Oxford 天美传媒 Press, 2012; updated 2017), see oxfordbibliographiesonline.com/obo/page/international-law
• 鈥楾owards a Less Secular Europe? The Decision of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Lautsi v. Italy鈥�, ASIL Insight, vol. 15, issue 12 (May 2011), available at www.asil.org/insights/volume/15/issue/12/towards-less-secular-europe-decision-grand-chamber-european-court-human
• 鈥楤alancing National Security Concerns and Individual Rights in the Fight against Terrorism: The ICJ's Advisory Opinion on 鈥淭he Wall鈥濃��, INTERIGHTS Bulletin, vol. 15:1 (November 2004), pp. 32-34

Contact Details

E: silvia.borelli@beds.ac.uk

T: +44 (0)1582 743015