PREVIOUS POSITIONs
Lecturer in EU law and Research Fellow, Judicial Studies Institute, Faculty of Law, Masaryk University (2017-2023)
Research Fellow, Centre for Judicial Cooperation, European University Institute (2017-2022)
ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS
Principal Investigator of the research project “ACCESS – Gatekeepers to International Refugee Law? – The Role of Courts in Shaping Access to Asylum”, Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna (funded by the European Research Council, Nov 2023 – 31 Oct 2028)
Principal Investigator of the legal training and research project “TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of legal professionals safeguarding the rule of Law under the EU Charter -TRIIAL 2”, Centre for Judicial Cooperation of the European University Institute (funded by DG Justice, Feb 2023- July 2025)
EDUCATION
2015 PhD in Law, European University Institute (Florence, IT). Thesis: ‘Protecting (unrepresented) EU citizens in third countries–The intertwining roles of the EU and its Member States’ (Supervisor: Prof. Marise Cremona)
2010 LL.M. in International, European and Comparative Law, European University Institute (Florence, IT). Thesis: ‘The International Responsibility of the EU for Common Foreign and Security Policy Acts’ (Supervisor: Prof. Marise Cremona)
2008 LL.M. in European Business Law, University of Durham (UK), graduated with Distinction (Supervisor: Prof. Antonis Antoniadis)
2007 LL.B., Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest (RO). Thesis: ‘The Legal Regime governing the Delimitation of Maritime Zones under Public International Law’, graduated with Distinction (Supervisor: Prof. Raluca Beșteliu)
MAJOR RECENT PUBLICATIONS
The Practice of Judicial Interaction in the Field of Fundamental Rights - The Added Value of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Edward Elgar 2022) edited volume with Federica Casarosa
Law and Judicial Dialogue on the Return of Irregular Migrants from the European Union (Hart 2020) (main co-editor, with Galina Cornelisse and Philippe de Bruycker)
‘Judicial Interactions on the European Return Directive: Shifting Borders and the Constitutionalisation of Irregular Migration Governance’, European Papers, Vol. 7, 2022, No 1, pp. 127-149 (with Galina Cornelisse)
‘The First Episode in the Romanian Rule of Law Saga: Joined Cases C-83/19, C-127/19, C-195/19, C-291/19, C-355/19 and C-397/19, Asociaţia ‘Forumul Judecătorilor Din România, and Their Follow-up at the National Level’ (2022) 18 European Constitutional Law Review 82 (main author, with Raluca Bercea)
‘Adjudicating Migrants' Rights: What Are European Courts Saying?’, European Journal of Legal Studies, 2022, Vol. 14, Special Issue (with Veronica Federico and Paola Pannia)
‘An Analysis Of The Consular Protection Directive: Are EU Citizens Now Better Protected In The World?’ (2019) 56 Common Market Law Review, 417–461
‘The EU Return Directive: A Cause for Shame or an Unexpectedly Protective Framework?’ in Philippe de Bruycker and Lilian Tsourdi (eds), Research Handbook on EU Migration and Asylum Law (Edward Elgar 2022), pp.436-456
The EU Fundamental Right to Asylum: in Search of its Legal Meaning and Effects’ in Sara Iglesias Sanchez and Maribel Pascual (eds), Fundamental Rights in the EU Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (CUP 2021), pp.139-158
GRANTS as principle investigator
2023-2028 ERC StG for the project ACCESS – Gatekeepers to International Refugee Law? – The Role of Courts in Shaping Access to Asylum (1.49million)
2023-2025 European Commission, DG JUSTICE for the project: TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of legal professionals safeguarding the rule of Law under the EU Charter (TRIIAL 2) (900k)
2021-2023 Masaryk University for project: The Role of Courts in Shaping Migrants Rights (260K)
2019-2022 European Commission, DG Justice for the project: ‘TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of judges and arbitrators safeguarding the rule of Law under the EU Charter (TRIIAL)’ (900k)
2017-2020 Masaryk University for the project: ‘Reforming European Administrative Governance in times of crisis: Common or disjunctive sector regulatory models’ (100k)
2017-2019 European Commission, DG Justice for the project: ‘e-learning National Active Charter Training’ (eNACT) (800K)
2015-2017 European Commission, DG Home for the project: ‘REturn directive DIALogue’ (REDIAL) (800k)
2015-2017 European Commission, DG Justice for the project: ‘Active Charter Training Through Interaction of National Experiences’ (ACTIONES) (620k)
2010-2013 Romanian Government Scholarship for PhD programme, European University Institute
