Carla Giustiniani

Law

Please tell us about your research project.

I am a first-year PhD candidate in comparative public law at Aix-Marseille Université, affiliated with the Institut Louis Favoreu and supervised by Professors Aurélie Duffy-Meunier and Delphine Costa. I am spending Michaelmas Term 2026 at the Maison Française d’Oxford, where I am working on remedies for human rights breaches attributable to public authorities, from a comparative perspective between French and English law.

I am interested in the influence  of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is legally binding on both France and the United Kingdom, on the liability mechanisms applicable to public authorities. On the one hand, my research examines whether and how claimants rely on human rights law to adapt the liability rules applicable to public bodies. On the other hand, it explores whether this influence fosters a convergence in the remedies awarded by French and British courts to claimants who have suffered harm resulting from breaches of rights guaranteed by the Convention.

Could you tell us a bit more about your scholarship/exchange programme?

I am a resident of the Maison Française d’Oxford thanks to a doctoral contract awarded through an international call for projects, in collaboration between the Maison Française d’Oxford and Aix-Marseille Université. Over the first three years of my thesis, this contract will allow me to alternate between research stays at the Maison Française d’Oxford and periods at the Faculty of Law and Political Science in Aix-en-Provence, which suits a comparative thesis well.

This first stay is a real opportunity to begin my PhD in the best possible conditions. It gives me access to the rich collections of the Bodleian Law Library, including books, journals and English law resources that are hard to find on my subject. It also places me in close contact with scholars whose work intersects with mine, and allows me to attend lectures directly relevant to my research in comparative public law. Finally, this term also gives me the chance to attend a wide range of seminars within the University of Oxford’s research centres.

First impressions of Oxford/the University?

Oxford is a beautiful historic city whose colleges and numerous libraries create an atmosphere conducive to work. The city’s green spaces are full of surprises, with squirrels and foxes as regular walking companions. I am also very happy with my working conditions at the Maison Française d’Oxford, whose library is open to residents at any hour. Living there is a chance to meet people from many different disciplines, which makes the experience as enriching intellectually as it is personally.