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Biography
Pavlos Eleftheriadis is Professor of Public Law at the University of Oxford.
He specialises in public law, European Union law and jurisprudence. His books include Legal Rights (Oxford University Press, 2008) and A Union of Peoples: Europe as a Community of Principle (Oxford University Press, 2020). He is also the co-editor (with Julie Dickson) of the collection of essays The Philosophical Foundations of European Union Law (Oxford University Press, 2012). He has been a Fellow of Mansfield College, Oxford since 2003.
He was educated at the University of Athens (BA, 1990) and the University of Cambridge (LLM, 1991, PhD, 1995). He was a visiting professor of law at Columbia Law School (2001), a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto (2012), and a Distinguished Global Fellow in Residence at Boston College (2013).
He is a barrister in England and Wales and practises before the English courts in public law, environmental law, EU law and human rights from Francis Taylor Building in the Temple. Some of his recent cases involved challenging the Brexit process on constitutional grounds, including the case of Wilson v Prime Minister [2019] EWCA Civ 304.
He occasionally writes on constitutional, legal and general European political issues for the press. His articles have been published by the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Telegraph and the Greek newspaper 'To Vima', as well as the legal blog 'Verfassungsblog'.
His currents research interests include:
- climate change, sustainability and the law
- constitutional fundamentals
- the idea of a 'civil condition' in Kant
- ethical ideals and political institutions
An interview on climate change and planning law with Lexis Nexis is here.
His interview on the requirement for a new referendum on Brexit with Debating Europe, is here.
The BBC's discussion of his argument on a second refrendum is here.
You can follow him on twitter at @PEleftheriadis.
Publications
Recent additions
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P Eleftheriadis, 'Natural Reason and the Ethical Foundations of European Law ' (2021) Revue Européenne du Droit forthcoming Most defences of the European Union are consequentialist. They say that for this or that reason the EU serves interests in prosperity or security. The most common attack on the European Union, however, is not consequentialist but based on a constitutional theory of ‘popular sovereignty’. If you believe that popular sovereignty is the ground of a constitutional order, you may find the European Union’s claims to have a say on domestic government questionable. This criticism is very effective because political institutions are normally justified on the basis of ideas of right and wrong, not on their potential consequences. Nevertheless, the ‘popular sovereignty’ argument against the EU is the result of a serious misconception about the nature of constitutions. I sketch here an alternative argument, which explains the legitimacy of transnational institutions and the European Union on the basis of constitutional justice and equal citizenship. The argument continues a long – and in my view fruitful – tradition of legal scholarship, which defends the constitution and the ideal of the rule of law not merely on the value of procedures but also on the basis of ‘natural reason’.P Eleftheriadis, 'Rights in the Balance' (2021) forthcoming P Eleftheriadis, 'Elevent Types of post-Brexit EU Law ' (2021) Oxford Business Law Blog The United Kingdom and the European Union agreed on Christmas Eve a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement. This treaty has replaced the rules of the single market in the UK (with the exception of Northern Ireland and Gibraltar). It is, however, only one part of EU law in the United Kingdom. EU law in the UK is now a matter of a multiple and overlapping legal instruments. Post-Brexit legal arrangements are very complex, perhaps surprisingly so. Although it is not possible to set out these matters here in detail, it would perhaps be worth listing the eleven types of EU law operating in the United Kingdom after Brexit
Internet Publication (16)
Journal Article (39)
Book (3)
Review (7)
Chapter (19)
Other (4)
Case Note (4)
Presentation/Conference contribution (1)
Edited Book (1)
Research programmes
Research Interests
Constitutional Law, Human Rights, Environmental Law, Planning Law, European Union Law, Philosophy of Law
Options taught
Jurisprudence, European Union Law, Constitutional Principles of the EU, Constitutional Law (Mods)News articles for Pavlos Eleftheriadis
Blog posts by Pavlos Eleftheriadis

Eleven Types of post-Brexit EU Law
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Oxford Business Law Blog
2016-2017 Oxford Business Law Blog Round-Up: Most Read Opinion Pieces
By John Armour, Faculty of Law | Horst Eidenmüller, St Hugh's College | Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College | Luca Enriques, Faculty of Law | Ariel Ezrachi, Pembroke College | Cheng Lim | Bruno Meyerhof Salama | Calum Sargeant | TJ Saw | Maurice Stucke, Institute of European and Comparative Law
Oxford Business Law Blog
UK’s obligations won’t go to zero if we quit with no deal
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXIT
Right to remain may already be guaranteed
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXIT
EU financial claims against the UK are enforceable
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXIT
How to Make a Transitional Brexit Arrangement
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Oxford Business Law Blog
How the Government lost the Article 50 case
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXIT
The Systematic Constitution
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXIT
The Illegitimacy of Brexit
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXIT
How Brexit will Fail
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXITHow Brexit will Fail
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Oxford Business Law Blog
Legal Aspects of Withdrawal from the EU: A Briefing Note
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College | Luca Enriques, Faculty of Law
Oxford Business Law BlogA New Referendum is a Constitutional Requirement
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Oxford Business Law Blog
A New Referendum is a Constitutional Requirement
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXITThe UK and the Eurozone
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Oxford Business Law Blog
The UK and the Eurozone
By Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Mansfield College
Research Collection: BREXIT