Biography
Cecilia Rizcallah is a Professor of European Law and Human Rights at UCLouvain Saint-Louis Bruxelles. She also holds visiting professorships at the College of Europe, the Université libre de Bruxelles, and Université Paris I Panthéon–Sorbonne. In addition, she is 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).
Her work focuses on the protection of liberal democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, with particular attention to the European Union. Her research and teaching engage deeply with contemporary challenges in these areas.
She is 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). She has 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. She has published widely in leading peer-reviewed journals.
Research
She currently leads 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, she 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. She 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. She is also a former re:constitution Fellow (2021) and holds 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).
Publications
Teaching
- EU Law : Foundations (+ travaux pratiques sans casus)
- Séminaire de théorie du droit (orientation philosophie, science politique, criminologie, multidisciplinaire)
- Encadrement Moot court
- Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights
- Fondements juridiques de l’intégration européenne : théorie générale, droit institutionnel et droit matériel
- Union européenne, démocratie et Etat de droit
