We are happy to invite you to the Erasmus public lecture “Legal Protection of Human Rights in Europe: An Overview of International and Regional Protection Mechanisms” by Dr Roxani Fragou, Lecturer at Hellenic Open University, on 22 January 2025, at 15:30, at RGSL campus on Strēlnieku 4 k-2, W20 auditorium.
This open lecture will explore the human rights protection framework in Europe through an interactive, question-and-answer format. Starting with a brief introduction to human rights, we will map out the three levels of protection: the international level under the United Nations (UN), the regional level focusing on the Council of Europe, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and finally, the European Union’s human rights system. While this lecture will primarily provide a comprehensive overview of these mechanisms, it will also encourage discussion and contributions to enrich our understanding. Together, we will answer the fundamental question of whether human rights are indeed a cornerstone of International and European law—spoiler alert: they absolutely are!
Please register for the lecture here:
Dr Roxani Fragou received her PhD in Public Law from the University of Strasbourg (PhD thesis: Euthanasia and the right to refuse medical treatment in respect to the evolution of European comparative law (France, Greece, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and United Kingdom)) in 2010. In 2015, she undertook a postdoctoral research at the Faculty of Law of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (research field: Assisted reproduction and protection of the in vitro embryo), while from 2017 to 2019 she pursued a second postdoctoral research fellowship in the Faculty of Law of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (State Scholarships Foundation, IKY) on the National Human Rights Institutions’ (NHRIs) contribution to the promotion of human rights.
Dr Roxani Fragou served as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen and has been employed as a human rights officer/coordinator at the Greek National Commission for Human Rights (GNCHR). She has also worked at the Faculty of Law and the Institute of Political Studies of the University of Strasbourg, contributing to the teaching of Public Law, Constitutional Law and Political Institutions in France, and Comparative Law, while she also taught Applied Ethics. References and foundation: References in bioethics at the European Center for the Study and Teaching of Ethics (CEERE) of the University of Strasbourg. She has been qualified as an expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity by the Council of Europe, and she is a lawyer at the Athens Bar Association.
She currently teaches law at the Hellenic Open University (HOU) and the Open University of Cyprus (OUC) and is a member of the research team for the Jean Monnet Chair on "EU Institutions, Rights, and Judicial Integration" at the Open University of Cyprus.
She is the author of several papers, studies and jurisprudence notes published in Greek, English and French peer-reviewed journals.
She speaks Greek (native speaker), English, French and Spanish.