Newcastle University

Introduction

Dr María-Teresa Gil-Bazo is Lecturer in Law at Newcastle Law School, where she teaches Public International Law, EU Law, Human Rights, and The Movement of Persons in a Global World. She is also a Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre (Oxford University) and a Visiting Professor at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain). Dr Gil-Bazo is a member of the Spanish Bar Council (licensed to practice law).

Prior to joining Newcastle Law School, Dr Gil-Bazo was Lecturer in International Human Rights and Refugee Law at Oxford University, where she has also been Director of its International Summer School in Forced Migration.

Roles and Responsibilities

Director of Postgraduate Research Degrees (2011-2012) 

LLM Selector (2008-2010) 

Qualifications

PhD in International Law, University of Deusto (Bilbao), Spain, March 1999

MPhil in International Economics and Development, University of the Basque Country (Bilbao), Spain, 1995

LLB(Hons)/LLM, University of Deusto (Bilbao), Spain, 1993

Member of the Spanish Bar Council (Qualified in 1993)

Previous Positions

Lecturer in International Refugee and Human Rights Law, University of Oxford, 2004-2007

European Union Representative, European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) EU Office (Brussels), 2002-2004

Executive Officer in EU Justice and Home Affairs, Amnesty International-EU Office (Brussels), 1999-2002

Research Fellow, Faculty of Law (University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain), 1994-1999

Visiting Professor on the Protection of Non-nationals under International Human Rights Law (Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid, Spain), 1999-2007

Memberships

Ilustre Colegio de Abogados del Señorío de Vizcaya (Bar Council, Bilbao, Spain) 

International Law Association (ILA), British Branch

European Society of International Law (ESIL)

British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)

Society of Legal Scholars (SLS)

Spanish Association of International Law & International Relations Scholars (AEPDIRI)

Languages

Spanish (mothertongue); English; French; Italian

Research Interests

International Law, EU Law, Human Rights, and Refugee Law. Dr Gil-Bazo was awarded her PhD in 1999 (University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain) with a dissertation on The Right to Be Granted Asylum in International Law carried out under the supervision of Professor Fernando Mariño Menéndez (former Chair and Member of the UN Committee Against Torture) and funded by a Research Grant awarded by the Basque Government’s Programme for the Development of Academic Staff.

Dr Gil-Bazo’s research examines the relationship between the individual and the State as subjects of international law. In particular, it analyses the way in which the transformation of sovereignty -especially by virtue of States’ membership in international organisations- may be redefining that relationship. Her research focuses on Europe and examines the way in which the status of individuals is shaped by the interaction between different legal orders: international law –universal and regional- and EC/EU law.

Current Work

Her current research includes:

· State practice on the right to be granted asylum

This research seeks to identify and examine State practice in Africa and Latin America that implements international human rights provisions on the right to be granted asylum, including the constitutional nature of this right. It is funded by a UNHCR Small Grant awarded in July 2011 ($3,500).

This project draws from previous research on the right to be granted asylum in Europe (published by the Refugee Survey Quarterly in 2008), which has been cited by UNHCR in proceedings before the the Court of Justice of the EU in the case of N.S. v Secretary of State for the Home Department (C-411/10), judgment of 21 December 2011.

· The Sovereign and the individual in historical perspective

This research analyses the relationship between sovereignty and the individual in historical perspective and issues arising from the existence of areas of sovereignty excluded from the jurisdiction of the territorial State in favour of other jurisdictions (either State-based or otherwise, such as international arrangements conferring decision-making powers on other sovereign entities, such as the Holy See). This research is developed within the framework of COST Action IS1003 on "International Law between Constitutionalism and Fragmentation".

Postgraduate Supervision

Dr Gil-Bazo supervises Postgraduate research in International Law, EU Law, Refugee Law, and Human Rights.

If you want to receive further information on reading for a research degree at Newcastle Law School please see www.ncl.ac.uk/nuls/postgraduate/research/index.htm

Esteem Indicators

Dr Gil-Bazo is a Research Associate at the Refugee Studies Centre (Oxford University). She was also the Director of its Summer School in Forced Migration in 2009 and 2010 (further information can be found at: www.rsc.ox.ac.uk). She has been a Visiting Professor at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) since 1999, where she teaches an annual Postgraduate course on “The Protection of Refugees under International Refugee and Human Rights Law”.

Dr Gil-Bazo has acted as a consultant for the Council of Europe, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the European Commission, and numerous projects funded by the European Union in Central and Eastern Europe. She is one of the main contributing authors to the latest edition of UNHCR’s The State of the World’s Refugees (Oxford University Press, 2006). She has been a Member to O.S.C.E. Missions in Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina. She is a Member of the UK National Migration Network (EU Migration Network), convened by the Home Office’s UK Border Agency.

Dr Gil-Bazo is a reviewer for the UK Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and has been an evaluator for COST (European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research), an intergovernmental European framework for international co-operation between nationally funded research activities supported from the EU Research and Technological Development Framework Programme.

Dr Gil-Bazo has undertaken research stays at the The Australian National University, University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands), the European University Institute (Florence, Italy), and the United Nations (Geneva, Switzerland). Her articles and book chapters have been published in the UK, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Morocco. She is a member of the Editorial Board of Butterworths Immigration Law Service and a reviewer for publishers including Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge-Cavendish, and for specialised journals, including the International Journal of Refugee Law (OUP), the Human Rights Law Review (OUP), and the European Journal of Migration and Law (Martinus Nijhoff).

Dr Gil-Bazo regularly teaches at seminars and conferences in universities abroad, as well as at events organised by international organisations (such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and the European Union) for judges, practising lawyers, government officials, and the military. Some of the events where she has been an invited speaker include:

• The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as a Protection Instrument, Public Lecture at the Centre for European Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, 20 January 2011

• The enforceability of the right to be granted protection, at the Workshop on ‘Individualisation’ in refugee protection in the light of recent asylum-related case law from the ECtHR and the CJEU, Aarhus University Globalisation Programme (Denmark), September 2010

• Invoking Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Right, training for the European Legal Network on Asylum (ELENA), at the Course on “The Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights”, Prague (Czech Republic), 8 May 2010

• A Hierarchy of Protection? The Single Procedure and the EC Qualification Directive, at the Conference on Best Practices for Refugee Status Determination: Principles and Standards for State Responsibility, Monash University (Australia) and Université de Montréal (Canada), Prato (Italy), May 2008

• The Quest for Freedom, Security and Justice: Who Protects Refugees and Migrants in the EU? Cambridge University, Faculty of Law, 2 March 2007.

• The International Legal Framework for Refugee Protection, Opening Lecture at the 39th Course on International Refugee Law, at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (San Remo, Italy), 9 May 2006.

• The Export of Protection: Safe Third Countries, External Processing of Asylum Claims and Regional Protection Programmes, at the Centre for Migration Law, University of Nijmegen (the Netherlands), 21 February 2006.

• Human Rights Protection in the EU Relations with Third Countries, Centre for Conflict Studies, University of Utrecht (the Netherlands), 9 December 2005.

• Human rights protection and migration controls: the protection of unlawfully present individuals under International Law, training for Albanian government officials organised by IOM, Durres (Albania), 20 June 2005.

• The interaction between the EC Qualifications Directive and the ECHR, at the “Third Colloquy on the European Convention on Human Rights and the protection of refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons”, organised by the Council of Europe and UNHCR Strasburg, 14 October 2005.

• The reality of irregular migration: living and working in Europe in light of International Human Rights Law, at the Conference on “Immigration, integration and human rights”, organised by the European Parliament, Brussels, 30 June 2005.

• The Protection of non-nationals in a European Convention of Human Rights Context – People at risk, training to Serbian judges at the seminar “International Standards on Protection of Refugees and Citizenship”, organised by the Council of Europe in co-operation with UNHCR. Belgrade (Serbia), May 2003.

• The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, organised by the Law Society of England and Wales. London, June 2000.

Funding

LARGE RESEARCH GRANTS:

• Research Grant: four-year full time grant awarded by the Basque Government’s Programme for the Development of Researchers, covering FEC during the time of research as well as of publication of results. Funding granted in 1997.

• Research Grant: two-year full time grant on “Non-nationals and the Law”, funded by Deusto University under its Multidisciplinary Project on “The Foreigner in Today’s European Culture”, covering covering FEC and a three-month short research stay at Oxford University, 1994-1996.

SMALL RESEARCH GRANTS:

• UNHCR Small Grant, July 2011 

• The Oppenheimer Research Support Grant and the Oppenheimer Outreach Grant (University of Oxford) in 2005 and 2006, and the Refugee Studies Centre Research Grant (University of Oxford) in 2006.

• Visiting Scholar on a Short Stay Research Grant at the Centre for Migration Law (Nijmegen University), 2003-2004.

• Visiting Scholar at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence (Italy), funded by the European Union Social Science Information Research Facility (EUSSIRF) Scheme, 1999.

• Research Grant for a Short Research Stay at the United Nations Library (Geneva), covering travel and accommodation expenses, 1998. Award granted by the Basque Government’s Programme for the Development of Research Staff.

Undergraduate Teaching

· Law3017 Public International Law (this module can be taken by students in other programmes, such as Politics)

· Law3034 Human Rights 

· Law2062 EU Law

Postgraduate Teaching

· Law8150 The Movement of Persons in a Global World

This course examines nationality, citizenship, and the existing and emerging status of non-nationals under international law and regional organisations, such as the EU. It approaches the study of the movement of persons in a systematic manner by placing it within the broader theoretical and conceptual framework of globalisation and the complex relationship between multiple legal orders (international (universal & regional)/EU/national).

Nationality & citizenship, freedom of movement under international agreements of regional scope, diplomatic status, diplomatic protection, statelessness, and refugee status are examined. The role of international human rights law as a foundation for universal transnational citizenship is also examined.

• Gil-Bazo MT. Article 40 1951 Convention (Territorial application clause). In:Zimmermann, A., ed. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol: A Commentary.Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press,2011, pp. 1567-1588.
• Gil-Bazo MT. Article 41 1951 Convention/Article VI 1967 Protocol (Federal clause). In:Zimmermann, A., ed. The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol: A Commentary.Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press,2011, pp. 1589-1613.
• Gil-Bazo MT. ‘Thou shalt not judge’ … Spanish judicial decision-making in asylum and the role of judges in interpreting the law. In: Guy S. Goodwin-Gill & Hélène Lambert, ed. The Limits of Transnational Law. Refugee Law, Policy Harmonization and Judicial Dialogue in the European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010, pp. 107-124.
• Gil-Bazo MT. El marco jurídico internacional para la protección de personas en un contexto de lucha contra la inmigración irregular en la Unión Europea. In:Pinyol, G., ed. La dimensión exterior de las políticas de inmigración en la Unión Europea.Barcelona:CIDOB,2008, pp. 121-128.
• Gil-Bazo M-T. Refugee Protection under International Human Rights Law: Maintaining the Difference While Enjoying equal Treatment. In: Daniel Sarmento, Daniela Ikawa, and Flavia Piovesan, ed. Igualdade, Diferença e Direitos Humanos. Rio de Janeiro: Lumen Juris, 2008, pp. 809-827.
• Gil-Bazo M-T. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Right to be Granted Asylum in the Union’s Law. Refugee Survey Quarterly 2008, 27(3), 33-52.
• Gil-Bazo MT. Refugee Status and Subsidiary Protection under EC Law: The Qualification Directive and the Right to Be Granted Asylum. In:Baldaccini, A; Guild, E; Toner, H, ed. MT Whose Freedom, Security and Justice? EU Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy.Oxford:Hart Publishing,2007, pp. 229-264.
• Gil-Bazo MT. The Protection of Refugees under the Common European Asylum System. The Establishment of a European Jurisdiction for Asylum Purposes and Compliance with International Refugee and Human Rights Law. Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto 2007,36 153-182.
• Gil-Bazo MT. Refugee status, subsidiary protection, and the right to be granted asylum under EC law. Switzerland: UNHCR, Policy Development and Evaluation Service, 2006. UNHCR New Issues in Refugee Research Research Paper No. 13.
• Gil-Bazo MT. The European Union's external dimension of asylum and migration policies from an International Refugee and Human Rights Law perspective. Revue marocaine d’études internationales 2006, 14(January), 85-91.
• Gil-Bazo MT. The Practice of Mediterranean States in the context of the European Union’s Justice and Home Affairs External Dimension. The Safe Third Country Concept Revisited. International Journal of Refugee Law 2006,18 3-4 571-600.
• Gil-Bazo MT. Accelerated Procedures in European Union Law. In: Twerlouw, A, ed. Binnen 48 uur. Zorgvuldige behandeling van asielverzoeken?. Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2003, pp.265-276.
• Gil-Bazo MT. La protección internacional del derecho del refugiado a recibir asilo en el Derecho internacional de los derechos humanos. In: Marino Manendez, F.M, ed. Derecho de Extranjería, Asilo y Refugio. Madrid, Spain: Ministerio de Asuntos Sociales, 2003, pp.681-704.
• Gil-Bazo MT. O papel dos direitos humanos no processo de integraçao da Europa. In: Piovesan, F., ed. Direitos humanos, globalizaçao económica e integraçao regional: desafios do direito constitucional internacional. Sao Paulo: Max Limonad, 2002, pp. 227-243.
• Gil-Bazo MT. La protección de los refugiados en la Unión Europea tras la entrada en vigor del Tratado de Amsterdam a la luz del Derecho internacional de los derechos humanos. In: Marino Menendez, F.M., Fernández Liesa, C, ed. La protección de las personas y grupos vulnerables en el Derecho Europeo. Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales, 2001, pp.147-186.
• Gil-Bazo MT. The Role of Spain as a Gateway to the Schengen Area: Changes in the Asylum Law and their Implications for Human Rights. International Journal of Refugee Law 1998, 10(1/2), 214-229.
• Gil-Bazo MT. Respuestas del Derecho internacional ante la transformación del régimen de asilo en Europa. Migraciones 1997, 1, 217-272.