This term we welcome new staff members to our law school. Join us for our Welcome Interviews and get to know our newest members of faculty.
This week we chat to Giulia Gentile, our newest LSE Fellow.
Hello Giulia, thank you so much for talking to us! We can’t wait to find out a little bit about you and your work. To start off, could you tell us about your education and career before joining LSE Law School?
My career has taken me to five countries so far! Firstly, I completed my undergraduate studies in law in Italy and France, and my LLM and PhD in the UK, at King’s College London. I qualified as a lawyer in Italy, and taught law at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and King’s College London in the UK. I conducted research at the University Panthéon-Assas in Paris and at the Max Planck Institute in Luxembourg. Last but not least, I worked at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg, as a trainee lawyer in the Milan Office of a Magic Circle Law Firm and as a legal researcher for an insurance policy publication in the UK.
I believe it is fair to say that I have acquired the profile of a well-rounded European lawyer and academic, but also that I enjoy travelling, exploring and drawing lessons from different legal cultures!
What is your key area of research expertise and what drew you to the field?
My research focuses on two streams. The first concerns EU constitutional law and, in particular, the effectiveness of EU law, and the second, the promotion of fundamental rights in the digital environment, with a special focus on data protection. I am captivated by these areas because of their complexity and far-reaching effects - both the effectiveness of EU law and the protection of personal data have been raising unprecedented challenges and, not surprisingly, they are among the most topical issues on the agenda of political actors across Europe and beyond. Further research is still be done to fully appreciate and address the implications of these legal matters, so I am certainly not getting bored!
I was drawn to these fields when I was completing my Erasmus semester at the University Paris V in 2012. While studying EU financial law in Paris, I was fascinated by the impact of EU law on the national legal orders and the protection of individual rights. Since my Erasmus exchange, I have focused my studies on deepening my knowledge of EU law and acquiring legal skills as a European lawyer and academic. During my LLM studies at King’s College London, I also took a particular interest in the EU data protection framework and, more generally, the EU regulation of the digital environment.
Besides my academic work in these fields, I was fortunate to contribute to the shaping and application of EU law, especially EU data protection law, while working at the cabinet of Judge Lucia Serena Rossi at the Court of Justice of the European Union, a truly inspirational experience.
Which piece of work are you are most proud of so far?
Definitely my paper, ‘Ensuring Effective Judicial Review of EU Soft Law via the Action for Annulment before the EU Courts: a Plea for a Liberal-Constitutional Approach’, published on the European Constitutional Law Review in November 2020. As the title suggests, the paper deals with the judicial review of EU soft law, which is a category of legal acts such as guidance documents, press releases, recommendations or opinions. Although these measures are increasingly adopted by EU institutions and have wide-ranging effects on the legal position of individuals, the Court of Justice of the EU has been reluctant in opening the gates of effective review of these acts. It follows that these acts are ‘escaping’ judicial control, imbalances of powers in the EU legal order and lack of protection for individual rights being potential consequences. In my paper I argued that that the EU judicature should engage in a more thorough scrutiny over EU soft law.
A few months after this publication, I was pleased to see that the Court innovatively embraced the line of argument I included in my paper by carrying for the first time an in-depth review of an EU recommendation in case C-501/18, Balgarska Narodna Banka. The judgment led to the annulment of that act.
This episode taught me that the voice of academia can influence institutional action and can even contribute to shaping the law. Also, that it is crucial to ground ideas on solid empirical evidence in addition to well-reasoned arguments.
Fascinating. Do you have any exciting projects in the pipeline?
I am leading three projects at the moment. I am co-editing two volumes on the interpretation and the application of Article 47 of the EU Charter, forthcoming with Hart Publishing in 2022. I am also working with other colleagues on a Handbook on Interdisciplinary studies on EU law, under contract with Edward Elgar in 2023. Last but not least, I am finalising a book proposal based on my PhD thesis on the effectiveness of EU law, which was awarded the European Public Law Organisation Prize in 2021. Let’s just say I like to keep myself busy!
Last question, what are you looking forward to the most about being part of LSE Law School?
I am looking forward to being exposed to leading scholars and learning from them, creating collaborations with my new colleagues, teaching LSE’s brilliant students face to face and living in London. LSE has an outstanding tradition of academic excellence and offers a unique forum for ground-breaking ideas, society and institutions to meet and build the future. I am thrilled and honoured to be part of this institution and I trust the LSE Fellowship is going to be a truly enriching experience.
You can follow Giulia on Twitter here.
Check out our previous 2021/22 Welcome Interviews with Yusra and Stavros.