Profile
George Letsas joined the Faculty as Lecturer in Laws in 2006 and was promoted to Reader in 2009. He holds a PhD in Law (2005) from UCL, an MA in Legal and Political Theory with Distinction (2000) from the Department of Political Science at UCL, and an LLB (1999) from the University of Athens.
Dr Letsas is currently the Co-Director of the UCL Institute for Human Rights and Co-Editor (with John Tasioulas) of UCL’s Quain Lecture Series in Jurisprudence, published by Oxford University Press. He was formerly the Co-Editor of Current Legal Problems, published by Oxford University Press. In 2011-2012, he was a Senior Emile Noel Fellow at New York University (NYU), Faculty of Law. Since 2006, he has co-chaired the UCL Colloquium in Legal and Social Philosophy, convened by Ronald Dworkin (1999-2007), G.A. Cohen (2008-2009) and John Tasioulas (2011-). Between 2006 and 2009 he co-convened (with Nicos Stavropoulos) the Oxford-UCL Colloquium in Legal Philosophy.
Research
Dr Letsas’s main research interests are in jurisprudence and human rights with particular emphasis on the philosophy of human rights, the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), proportionality and the margin of appreciation, theory of European law, philosophical foundations of contract law, theory of private law, and the philosophy of conventions.
Publications
Books
A Theory of Interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights, Oxford University Press (2007). Paperback edition with new Preface, Oxford University Press (2009), ISBN-13: 978-0199563883.
Reviewed:
Dean Spielmann, 74 Revue Internationale des Droits de l’homme (2008); Roel de Lange, ‘Interpretatietheorie of moraalfilosofie?’, 7 NJCM Bulletin, Nederlands Tijdschrift voor de Mensenrechten (2008) 1091-1109; Steven Greer, 16 (3) International Journal of Minority and Group Rights (2009), pp. 503-505; Pavlos Eleftheriadis, ‘The Law of Laws’ (Review article), Transnational Legal Theory (2011)
Klass, Letsas and Saprai (eds), Philosophical Foundations of Contract Law, forthcoming in 2014 (Oxford University Press).
Journal Articles
The DNA of Conventions’, Law and Philosophy (forthcoming, 2013)
‘Dworkin on Human Rights’, Jurisprudence (forthcoming, 2013)
‘Strasbourg’s Interpretive Ethic: Lessons for the International Lawyer’, 21 European Journal of International Law (2010), 1-33.
‘No Human Right to Adopt?’, 1 UCL Human Rights Review (2008).
‘Two Concepts of the Margin of Appreciation’, 4 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (2006) 705.
‘The Truth in Autonomous Concepts: How to Interpret the ECHR’, 2 European Journal of International Law (2004) 279.
‘International Human Rights and the Binding Force of Interim Measures’, 5 European Human Rights Law Review (2003) 527.
‘Legal Positivism: From Moral Neutrality to Triviality’, 2 Isopoliteia (2001) 233 .
Chapters in books
‘The ECHR as A Living Instrument: its Meaning and its Legitimacy’ in Geir Ulfstein, Andreas Follesdal and Birgit Schlütter (eds), The European Court of Human Rights in a National, European and Global Context, Cambridge University Press (2013).
‘Harmonic Law: The Case Against Pluralism’ in Julie Dickson, Pavlos Eleftheriadis (eds), Philosophical Foundations of European Union Law, Oxford University Press (2012).
‘Judge Rozakis’s Separate Opinions and the Strasbourg Dilemma’ in Dean Spielmann et als, ‘The European Convention on Human Rights: A Living and Dynamic Instrument - Liber Amicorum in Honour of Judge Rozakis’, Bruylant (2011).
‘Is there a Right not to be Offended in one’s Religious Beliefs?’ in Lorenzo Zucca (ed), Law, State and Religion in the new Europe: Debates and Dilemmas, Cambridge University Press (2011).
‘Rights and Duties on Pitcairn Island’, in Dawn Oliver (ed), Justice, Legality and the Rule of Law, Oxford University Press (2009), pp. 157-182.
‘Monism, Interpretivism and Law’s Aim’ in Ross Harisson, Michael Freeman (eds) Current Legal Issues: Law and Philosophy, Oxford University Press (2007)
Shorter Articles
“The International Bill of Rights’ in Hugh Lafollette (ed), The International Encyclopedia of Ethics, Blackwell (2012), 5000 words.
