Stefanos specialises in the field of public international law, in particular human rights law. He completed his doctoral research at the University of Birmingham, where he successfully defended his PhD thesis on the effectiveness and long-term future of the European Court of Human Rights.

Before joining Pieters Cariolou LLC, Stefanos completed his legal traineeship at the Law Office of the Republic of Cyprus (Human Rights Department), where he had the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the handling of various cases before the European Court of Human Rights, often raising complex and novel legal issues.

Previously, he undertook a Blue Book traineeship at the European Commission, in Brussels, and an internship at the Permanent Representation of Cyprus to the Council of Europe, in Strasbourg. He has also held the position of Secretary-General at the European Law Students’ Association (ELSA) UK. During his doctoral studies, Stefanos presented his research papers at various national and international conferences. He also held the position of Teaching Associate at Birmingham Law School, where he taught academic seminars in the Law undergraduate programmes.

Qualifications:

PhD in Law (University of Birmingham, UK)

LLM in Public International Law (University of Leicester, UK)

LLB with a Year Abroad (University of Leicester, UK)

Certificate in French Legal Studies (University of Strasbourg, France)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)

Selected Publications and Conference Participation

• Stefanos Xenofontos, The Constitutionalisation of International Law and the Evolving nature of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): towards a European constitutional court for human rights? University of Birmingham, Ph.D. (2021), available at:  the University of Brmingham

• Stefanos Xenofontos, ‘The End of the Interlaken Process: A (yet another) missed opportunity to guarantee the long-term future of the ECtHR?’ (Strasbourg Observers, 29 April 2020), available at: Strasbourgh Observers.
• The ECHR Turns 70 – Taking Stock, Thinking Forward, Ghent University (Human Rights Centre), 24-26 November 2021 (paper presented: ‘From Interlaken to Copenhagen and beyond: A critical reflection on the framing of the ECtHR challenges and the future of the ECtHR’s reform’)
• Conference on ‘Loyal Co-operation within the System of the European Convention on Human Rights’, University of Liverpool, 10-11 May 2019 (paper presented: ‘Beyond Jurisdictional Dialogue – Protocol No. 16 as an institutional mechanism for enhancing the authority of the ECtHR’).
• Law and Humanity: A PGR Research Carnival, University of Birmingham, 14 September 2020 (paper presented: ‘The Right of Individual Petition at the European Court of Human Rights in the ‘Age of Subsidiarity’: Time for fresh thinking?’).
• Birmingham Law School 1^st Annual Research Conference, University of Birmingham, 20 June 2019 (paper presented: ‘Framing the European Court of Human Rights challenges: the ‘new’ Court, Interlaken, Brighton and beyond’).
• Stefanos Xenofontos, ‘Recent Developments in the Extraterritorial Scope of Application of the ECHR in the Aftermath of Jaloud v The Netherlands [2014]’ (2016) 4(2) Legal Issues Journal 120-126.
• Stefanos Xenofontos, ‘Agamben’s State of Exception in Context: A Critical Analysis with regard to Post-9/11 Jurisprudence’ (2016) 4(1) Legal Issues Journal 113-128.