Biography
Dr Silvia Borelli joined King’s as a Visiting Lecturer in 2009. She currently convenes the LLM module on Transnational Human Rights Litigation and teaches on the undergraduate Public International Law course. She previously convened the International Human Rights LLM module and the International Human Rights in War Times LLM/MA module
Dr Borelli holds a PhD in Public International Law from the University of Milan, an MA in International Relations from the University of Bologna and a law degree from the University of Parma. She is accredited with the Office of the Immigration Service Commissioner (OISC) as a Level 2 Immigration Adviser (Asylum and Protection) and is qualified as a lawyer in Italy. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and was previously a member of the Peer Review College of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Dr Borelli is currently also an Adjunct Professor in Human Rights on the London Programme of the Caruso School of Law, Pepperdine University. From 2011 to 2024, she was Principal Lecturer in Public International Law and Director of Research in the School of Law at the University of Bedfordshire. She previously held academic positions at the Faculty of Laws, UCL and Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan and has been a visiting scholar at various institutions, including the University of Trento, Reykjavik University, the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge and the British Institute of International Law (BIICL).
Professional collaborations and consultancy work
Dr Borelli has extensive experience of working as an academic consultant for human rights organisations, including the British Red Cross and Bedford Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support (BRASS), the REDRESS Trust, Rights Watch UK and INTERIGHTS. She currently serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk and from 2011 to 2018 was a member of the Lawyers Advisory Committee of Peace Brigades International UK.
Research Interests
Dr Borelli’s research interests are in the general field of public international law, with a particular focus on international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law. Recent research concentrates on the relationship between international human rights law and international humanitarian law, specifically as regards the applicability of international human rights standards in the context of extraterritorial military operations.
Her other long-standing research interests include counter-terrorism and human rights; human rights and religion; and the protection of fundamental rights in the context of immigration control operations.
Silvia' recent funded research includes a project examining the effect of changes in the availability of legal aid in the UK upon the right of access to justice of refugees and asylum seekers, and a study undertaken for the British Red Cross and the Families Together Programme examining Refugee Family Reunification in the UK.
Teaching
- Public International Law (undergraduate module)
- Transnational Human Rights Litigation (LLM module)
Selected Publications
"Channel Crossings and Deaths at Sea: Managing Irregular Migration and the Need for Safe and Legal Routes to Protection", Federalismi.it, vol. 2/2022, pp. 93-115
‘Protection of Individuals Hors De Combat: Convergence of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law’ in D. Rogers (ed.). Human Rights in War (Springer, 2022), pp. 309-343 (with H. Laufer)
‘Extraordinary Rendition, Counter-Terrorism, and International Law’, in B. Saul (ed.), Research Handbook on Terrorism and International Law (2nd ed.) (Edward Elgar, 2020), pp. 336-353
‘The Italian Response to Exploitation of Migrant Workers in the Agricultural Sector: Between Criminalization and Prevention’, Italian Yearbook of International Law, vol. XXIX (2020) (with M.C. Vitucci) (available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=3700991)
‘Pushing Back Against Push-backs: A Right of Entry for Migrants and Asylum Seekers Unlawfully Prevented from Reaching Italian Territory?’, Diritti umani e diritto internazionale, vol. 14(1) (2020), pp. 236-245 (available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=3700989)
‘The (Mis)-Use of General Principles of Law: Lex Specialis and the Relationship between International Human Rights Law and the Laws of Armed Conflict’, in L. Pineschi (ed.), General Principles of Law – The Role of the Judiciary (Springer, 2015), pp. 265–293 (available at ssrn.com/abstract=2575076)
‘Troubled Waters in the Mare Nostrum: Interception and “Push-backs” in the Mediterranean and the European Convention on Human Rights’, Uluslararası Hukuk ve Politika – Review of International Law and Politics, vol. 10 (2014), pp. 29–69, (with B. Stanford) (available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=2431658)
‘Article 8’ and ‘Article 9’, in C.J. Tams and R. O’Keefe (eds), The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and their Property: A Commentary (Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 124–136 and pp. 137–151 (with Simon Olleson)