Cecilia Rizcallah

I am a Professor of European Law and Human Rights at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles. I also hold visiting professorships at the College of Europe, the Université libre de Bruxelles, and Université Paris I Panthéon–Sorbonne. In addition, I am a member of the Collegium of the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts and Co-President of the Belgian Association for European Union Law (BEDER).

My work focuses on the protection of liberal democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, with particular attention to the European Union. My research and teaching engage deeply with contemporary challenges in these areas.

I am the author of three monographs (The European Union and Human Rights. Understanding a Singular Regional Player, Hart, 2026; The Principle of Mutual Trust in EU Law. An Essential Principle facing a Crisis of Values, published in English and French, Larcier, 2020 and 2022). I have also edited numerous collective volumes—including La Charte des droits fondamentaux de l’Union européenne. Commentaire article par article (with Fabrice Picod and Sébastien Van Drooghenbroeck, Larcier, 3rd ed., 2023)—as well as several special issues. I have published widely in leading peer-reviewed journals.

I currently lead several research projects, including JUDEMO—a F.R.S-FNRS WELCHANGE project conducted with Prof. Ramona Coman on the democratic role of judges.

In previous years, I held several research mandates funded by the F.R.S–FNRS and participated in the ERC-funded RESHUFFLE project at KU Leuven’s Institute for European Law. I obtained a joint PhD from the Université libre de Bruxelles and Université Saint-Louis Bruxelles (FNRS mandate), with a dissertation entitled Le principe de confiance mutuelle en droit de l’Union européenne à l’épreuve d’une crise des valeurs. This work received several distinguished awards, including the Jean Carbonnier, Alice Seghers, and Pierre-Henri Teitgen prizes. I am also a former re:constitution Fellow (2021) and hold degrees from the College of Europe (LL.M in European Law, very good, Baillet-Latour scholar), the Université libre de Bruxelles (Master in Law, summa cum laude, major de promotion), and Université Saint-Louis – Bruxelles (Bachelor in Law, magna cum laude).

• PI of the FSR project: The protection of democracy within the European Union. An analysis of the legal requirements stemming from the democratic value in European Union law (99 000 eur)

• PI of the WELCHANGE project funded by the F.R.S-FNRS : The Judge as Guardian of the Democratic Promise? Militant Democracy and the Democratic Role of
  Judges in the European Union (JUDEMO), co-promotion with prof. Ramona Coman at the Université libre de Bruxelles (485.000 eur)

PhD (co-)supervisor: 

• Justine Channac, La protection des démocraties au sein de l’Union européenne. Une analyse des exigences juridiques découlant de la valeur démocratique en droit de l’Union européenne (FSR projet)
• Marie Van Loocke, Sexual orientation and gender identity rights and reproductive rights in illiberal context: safeguarding liberal values in transforming constitutional democracies (F.R.S-FNRS FRESH Grant)

PhD committee: 

• Emilia Sandri, Enforcing Vertically Imposed Rule-of-Law Requirements Through Horizontal Judicial Cooperation: The Role of National Courts in Upholding the Rule of Law  (UAntwerpen, supervisors: Johan Meeusen and Mathieu Leloup
•  M’Mah SAMAKE, Les contraintes et enjeux d’une politique migratoire commune de la CEDEAO (UCLouvain, supervisor: Sylvie Saroléa)

PhD jury

• Marion Maurer, La concurrence des standards de protection des droits fondamentaux dans l'ordre juridique de l'Union européenne (Université de Strasbourg, supervisor: Dominique Ritleng)