Curriculum Vitae
Education
09/2011 – 01/2016
PhD in Law, Law School, University of York
1999 – 2000
Master of Law in Comparative Laws (LLM), University of San Diego, California, USA
1992 – 1998
Law degree (Laurea in giurisprudenza), Universitá di Pavia, Italy
Professional Activities/Teaching
09/2018 – ongoing
Research Fellow, Department “Law & Anthropology”, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle/Saale
09/2022-07/2023
Visiting Researcher, Fordam University School of Law, New York, NY, USA
02/2014 – 08/2018
Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen
09/2015 – 03/2016
Visiting researcher, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
01/2016 - 05/2016
Associate lecturer in European Law, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
11/2005 – 12/2010
Immigration solicitor, Turpin & Miller Solicitors, Oxford, UK
2003 –2005
Immigration attorney, Law Offices of Jan Austerlitz, Berkeley, California, USA
2003 - 2006
Volunteer mentor attorney, Civil Committee for Civil Rights, San Francisco, California, USA
2002 – 2003
Immigration attorney, East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, Berkeley, California, USA
05/2001 – 12/2001
Law clerk, Protection & Advocacy, Oakland, California, USA
09/2002 – 12/2002
Law intern, American Civil Liberties Union, San Diego, California, USA
Grants/Scholarships
1997 - 1998
Erasmus scholarship, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Presentations at Conferences, Workshops, and other invited Talks
June 2023
Seminar: ‘The Role of Expert Witness in the Adjudication of Religious and Culture-based Asylum Claims in the United Kingdom: The Case Study of “Witchcraft” Persecution’, Institute of Sociology, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany (29 June 2023).
May 2023
Book Presentation: ‘Responses to Sea Migration and Challenges to the Rule of Law: Insights from Italy’, Law School, Fordham University School of Law, New York, USA (24 May 2023).
April 2023
Paper: ‘The Criminalization of NGOs Engaged in Search and Rescue Activities in the Mediterranean: The Case of Italy’, Seminar: ‘Migrant Journeys to the US and EU’, Center on Forced Displacement, Boston University, USA (6 April 2023).
July 2022
Paper (co-authored with Iulia Mirzac): ‘Reflections on the Disjuncture between Forced Marriage in Asylum and Family Law Decisions in the UK’, CUREDI Conference, Berlin, Germany (11-12 July 2022).
April 2022
Seminar: ‘A Child-Rights Approach to the Meaning of “Persecution” in the Refugee Convention’, Judicial Training: ‘The Best Interests of the Child and Diversity in the Courtroom’, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle Germany (25-29 April 2022).
March 2022
Paper: ‘A Rule of Law Framework to Study Sea Migration in the Mediterranean Sea’, Conference: Migration and Border Management: Challenges and Perspective for Reform’, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (25 March 2022).
November 2021
Lecture: ‘Grounds of Persecution under Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention: Nationality and Traditional Beliefs’, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (11 November 2021).
October 2021
Paper: ‘The Role of the Expert Witnesses in the Adjudication of Religious and Culture-based Asylum Claims in the United Kingdom: The Case Study of “Witchcraft” Persecution’, Confrence: The Refugee Convention – 70 Years On’, University of Uppsala, Sweden (20 October 2021).
June 2021
Seminar. ‘Protezione degli Apolidi dalla Detenzione Arbitraria nel Regno Unito’, University of Palermo, Italy (4 June 2021)
May 2021
Paper: ‘The Role of Expert Witnesses in the Adjudication of Religious and Culture-based Asylum Claims in the United Kingdom: The Case Study of “Witchcraft” Persecution’, EuroStorie Research Seminar, University of Helsinki (21 May 2021).
Training to NGOs: ‘Family Reunion for Refugees to the UK’, Hamburg (3 May 2021).
April 2021
Seminar: ‘Anthropology Meets Law: Experiences from a Judicial Training on Diversity in the Courtroom’, Departmental Training for the International Criminal Court, The Hague (26 April 2021).
January 2021
Lecture: ‘The Meaning of “Nationality” under Article 1 A(2) of the Refugee Convention’, Faculty of Laws, University of Malta (14 Januar 2021).
November 2020
Seminar: ‘Witchcraft Persecution: Common Challenges in Judicial Decision-Making’, Judicial Training: ‘Cultural and Religious Diversity in the Courtroom. Judges in Europe Facing New Challenges’, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany (19 November 2020).
February 2020
Paper: ‘A Discussion on Critical Issues in Refugee Law’, Workshop, Oxford Brookes University, UK (19 February 2020).
October 2019
Paper: ‘Humanitarian Visas: the Case-Study of Italy’, Workshop: ‘The Zero-Sum Game of Migration in Europe: 20 Years after Tampere’, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK (15 October 2019).
November – December 2018
Paper: ‘Legal and Anthropological Approaches to Refugee Law’, Workshop: ‘The Oxford Handbook of Law and Anthropology’, Berlin, Germany (30 November – 2 December 2018).
September 2018
Book presentation: ‘The implementation of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons across EU States’, Conference: ‘Boundary Crossing’, University of Winchester, UK, (3-4 September 2018).
May 2018
Paper: ‘Protected Entry Through Humanitarian Visas and Corridors in Italy’, Workshop: ‘Humanitarian Visas and the External Dimensions of the EU Migration and Asylum Policy’, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany (17-18 May 2018).
October 2017
Seminar: ‘Children, their Right to a Nationality and Statelessness’, University of Hamburg, Germany (22 October 2017).
February 2017
Training for practitioners: ‘Statelessness and Immigration Detention’, London, UK (16 February 2017).
May 2017
Report presentation: ‘Arbitrary Detention of Stateless Persons in the UK’, Conference: ‘European Network on Statelessness’, Budapest, Hungary (3 – 5 May 2017)
October 2016
Report launch: “‘Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention in the UK”, Garden Court Chambers, London, UK (10 October 2016).
October 2016
Seminar: “‘Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention in the UK”, University of York, York, UK (9 October 2016)
June 2016
Paper: “Barriers to Access Protection for Stateless Persons in the UK”, Conference: ‘From Fortress Europe to Sanctuary Europe’, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, Oxford, UK (17 and 18 June 2016).
October 2015
Paper: “Freedom of movement and right to asylum”, Conference: “Offshored. Exploring the Hidden Dynamics of Globalization”, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK (22 October 2015).
September 2015
Paper: “The Application and Interpretation of the Definition of “Stateless Person”, Workshop, European Network on Statelessness, Strasburg, France (21 – 23 September 2015).
March 2015
Seminar: “Statelessness Determination Procedures and Status in Selected EU States”, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK (4 March 2015).
June 2016
Seminar: “Statelessness: an Overview”, University of York, York, UK (29 February 2012).
June 2010
Paper: “The EU Directive Laying Down Minimum Standards for the Reception of Asylum Seekers: Implementation in the United Kingdom”, Workshop: “Third Country Nationals versus EU Citizens: Discrimination Based on Nationality and the Equality Directives” Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK (28 June 2010).
Membership in Professional Associations
May 2006 - Law Society of England and Wales, UK
Solicitor
January 2003 - New York Bar, New York, USA
Attorney
Languages
Italian: Native speaker
English: Fluent
Spanish: Fluent
French: Intermediate
German: Basic