Benedetta Lobina
Research Area: EU Law, Rule of Law
Email: benedetta.lobina@ucdconnect.ie
Supervisor: Prof Laurent Pech
Thesis title: The EU Rule of Law Crisis: Challenging the Integrity of the EU Legal Order
Abstract
The proposed thesis will argue that the rule of law crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the EU legal order when it comes to its fundamental principles and values. Due to the rise of system and systematic deviation from the rule of law, caused by deliberate actions of national governments, as well as by the lack of a cohesive and effective strategy to defend EU values, the integrity of the EU project is threatened.
This project seeks to expand on the literature pertaining to rule of law backsliding by providing a taxonomy of rule of law crises across various member states. Accordingly, it will explore which legal remedies would be most effective depending on the patterns of violations observed, in order to reverse and prevent autocratic consolidation.
Biography
Benedetta is a doctoral researcher at the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin. She holds an M.A. in Legal Studies and Politics, where she graduated top of her class with first class honours, and an LL.M. by research (with distinction) from the University of Aberdeen.
She has co-authored various studies on topics related to the rule of law and freedom of expression, including on behalf of the European Parliament, and her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals (European Papers, The Tocqueville Review) and online publications (Verfassungsblog, EU Law Live, RevDem).
At UCD, she teaches tutorials in core undergraduate modules including EU Law, Constitutional Rights, Criminal Liability, Company Law, Contract Law, as well as serving as teaching assistant and occasional lecturer in the Masters level course NGO Law. She also tutors in the Department of Political Science at Trinity College Dublin, in courses on the ECJ and Other Famous Courts, and Democracy and Development. She is set to join the law school at TCD as adjunct assistant professor in 2025, lecturing Private International Law.
Publications
L Pech and B Lobina, ‘Navigating the Jurisdiction and Landmark Rulings of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the EU. A Guide to Protecting the Rule of Law in European Courts Amid Democratic Backsliding’ (2024) CEELI Institute <(opens in a new window)https://ceeliinstitute.org/assets/resources/ceeli_guide_protecting_rule_of_law_interactive.pdf>
B Lobina, ‘Protecting the watchdogs to preserve democracy: ‘Siec Obywatelska Watchdog Polska v Poland’ (App. No.10103/20)’ (2024) 4 European Human Rights Law Review 349.
B Lobina, ‘Breaking Bad all’Italiana: The EU Commission’s Assessment of Italy in the 2024 Annual Rule of Law Report’ (Verfassungsblog, 31 July 2024), (opens in a new window)https://verfassungsblog.de/breaking-bad-allitaliana/.
B Lobina and L Pech, ‘Illiberal Democracy and EU Law: Is There Such a thing as “Illiberal Democracy” and Is It Compatible with EU Membership?’ (2024) 45(1) The Tocqueville Review 35.
B Lobina, ‘The Orbánisation of Italy? Assessing the Rule of Law Track Record of the Meloni Government’ (2024) 24 CEU Democracy Institute Working Paper Series 1.
B Lobina, ‘La Protezione della Magistratura Come Difesa del Diritto dell’Unione ai Sensi dell’Articolo 19, Par. 1, TUE’ (2024) 1 Rivista del Contenzioso Europeo 1.
B Lobina, ‘Balancing Act: Upholding EU Values and Promoting Enlargement Amindst the Orbán Conundrum’ (2024) 10 TEPSA European Council Experts’ Debrief 15. <https://tepsa.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/EUCO-Debrief-February-2024-1-1.pdf>.
B Lobina, ‘Malta’s Rule of Law Crisis: Perspectives from a Captured Member State’ (2024) University of Malta Paper Series - 20 years of EU membership: Taking stock of the 2004 Enlargement 3.
B Lobina, ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Rule of Law Backsliding on the EU’s Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War’ (2023) 8(3) European Papers 1143.
B Lobina, ‘Same Old, Same Old: Nothing New for the Council’s Annual Rule of Law Dialogue’ (Verfassungsblog, 15 December 2023), (opens in a new window)https://verfassungsblog.de/same-old-same-old/.
B Lobina, ‘Beating a Dead Horse: Is There Any Value in the Council’s Annual Rule of Law Dialogue?’ (Verfassungsblog, 7 December 2023), (opens in a new window)https://verfassungsblog.de/beating-a-dead-horse/.
B Lobina, ‘Can the Invasion of Ukraine Be a Breaking Point for the Appeasement of Autocrats in Europe?’ (Review of Democracy, 13 October 2023), (opens in a new window)https://revdem.ceu.edu/2023/10/13/can-the-invasion-of-ukraine-be-a-breaking-point-for-the-appeasement-of-autocrats-in-europe/.
B Lobina, ‘Op-Ed: Does Freezing EU Funds Work? Taking Stock of the 2023 Annual Rule of Law Report’ (EU Law Live, 18 August 2023), (opens in a new window)https://eulawlive.com/op-ed-does-freezing-funds-work-taking-stock-of-the-2023-annual-rule-of-law-report-by-benedetta-lobina/.
J Borg-Barthet, B Lobina and M Zabrocka, “The use of SLAPPs to silence journalists, NGOs and civil society” (2021) JURI Committee, European Parliament: IP/C/JURI/IC/2021-048 (opens in a new window)https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/IPOL_STU(2021)694782.
Conferences
Organiser:
First All-Ireland Law PhD Conference “Lex Connect”, Dublin City University, 2 November 2024.
First Postgraduate Conference of the Centre for Private International Law, University of Aberdeen, 17 November 2021.
Paper presenter:
11th Biennial Conference of the SGEU, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), panel on ‘The EU’s Rule of Law Crisis: Supranational and Domestic Perspectives,’ Luiss University, 8-10 June 2022. Presentation title: ‘Judicial Independence in Peril: Perspectives from Hungary, Poland and Malta.’
Conference on Contemporary Challenges Facing the Transatlantic Alliance, American University Transatlantic Policy Center, 15-16 June 2022. Presentation title: ‘The Rule of Law Crisis in Hungary and Poland: Challenging the Transatlantic Alliance from Within.’
UACES Graduate Forum Research Conference, Rebuilding Europe After a Decade of Crisis, IBEI, 8-9 June 2023. Presentation title: ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Rule of Law Backsliding on the EU’s Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War.’
European Society of International Law Interest Group ‘EU as a Global Actor’ conference on The EU’s Response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: International and European Perspectives, University of Leiden, 22-23 June 2023. Presentation title: ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Rule of Law Backsliding on the EU’s Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War.’
CES 29th International Conference of Europeanists, ‘Europe’s Past, Present and Future: Utopias and Dystopias’, University of Iceland, 27-29 June 2023. Presentation title: ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Rule of Law Backsliding on the EU’s Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War.’
ECPR General Conference, Charles University (Prague), 4-8 September 2023. Presentation title: ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Rule of Law Backsliding on the EU’s Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War.’
Conference in honour of the inauguration of Professor Petra Bard ‘From Rule of Law Backsliding to a Sustainable Rule of Law,’ Radboud University, 21-22 September 2023. Presentation title: ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Impact of Rule of Law Backsliding on the EU’s Response to the Russo-Ukrainian War.’
Una Europa Global Governance Research Group conference ‘The European Union and the Pursuit of Global Governance in a Multi-Polar, Fractured World,’ University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, 8 December 2023. Presentation title: ‘Undermining the European Union’s Fight for Democracy from Within: Hungary’s Impact on the Response to the Invasion of Ukraine.’
Centre for Democracy Research Launch, UCD, 19 January 2024. Presentation Title: ‘Illiberal Democracy and EU Law: Is There Such a thing as “Illiberal Democracy” and Is It Compatible with EU Membership?’
12th Biennial Conference of the SGEU, European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), panel on ‘Law Enforcement, Legal Infrastructure and EU Authority within Member States’ NOVA University Lisbon, 19-21 June 2024. Presentation title: ‘Beyond Backsliding: Captured Judiciaries Across the EU.’ Also served as chair of this panel.