Staff profile

Dr Eleni Frantziou joined Durham Law School in 2018. She is a member of the Durham European Law Institute and Human Rights and Public Law Centre, having formerly acted as their co-director. She is a fellow of the Global Policy Institute.

Dr Frantziou is the author of a research monograph entitled The Horizontal Effect of Fundamental Rights in the European Union: A Constitutional Analysis (OUP 2019, joint winner of the UACES Prize 2020) and is the consultant academic editor of Halsbury's Laws of England: Rights and Freedoms (Vol 88, 2025). She has also published widely in peer-reviewed journals and edited collections concerning the application of human rights to private parties ('horizontal effect'), the interpretation and application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the relationship between EU and UK law following Brexit, with a particular focus on the continued application of fundamental rights under the EU/UK Withdrawal Agreement and Windsor Framework.

Dr Frantziou's research has been cited extensively, including by Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union, EU institutional reports, human rights organisations, and national courts, such as the German Constitutional Court. She has provided expert training to judges and policy-makers under the auspices of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and the European Judicial Training Network, as well as for the Northern Ireland Equality and Human Rights Commissions (ECNI and NIHRC).

Dr Frantziou holds degrees from King’s College London (LLB), the College of Europe, Bruges (LLM), and UCL (PhD). She has held visiting positions at Yale University (2015), LUISS Guido Carli University (2022), and the New Zealand Centre for Human Rights, Policy and Practice at the University of Auckland (2024). Before joining Durham, she was a Lecturer in Law and the University of Westminster and a Teaching Fellow at University College London (UCL). 

 

*Please note that Dr Frantziou will be on leave for part of the 2025-26 academic year. 

Research Interests

• UK Constitutional Law, EU Constitutional Law, Constitutional Theory, Global Constitutionalism, Human Rights Law, Workplace Politics, Horizontal Effect, Privacy

• UK Constitutional Law
• EU Constitutional Law
• Global Constitutionalism
• Human Rights Law
• Horizontal Effect
• Privacy

Authored book

• The Horizontal Effect of Fundamental Rights in the European Union: A Constitutional Analysis
  
  Frantziou, E. (2019). The Horizontal Effect of Fundamental Rights in the European Union: A Constitutional Analysis. Oxford University Press.

Chapter in book

• Article 15
  
  Mantouvalou, V., & Frantziou, E. (in press). Article 15. In S. Peers, T. Hervey, J. Kenner, & A. Ward (Eds.), The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary. Hart/Beck.
• L’effet horizontal des droits fondamentaux du numérique : une approche comparative à la lumière des systèmes régionaux de protection des droits fondamentaux
  
  Frantziou, E. (in press). L’effet horizontal des droits fondamentaux du numérique : une approche comparative à la lumière des systèmes régionaux de protection des droits fondamentaux. In F. Millet (Ed.), Le constitutionnalisme numérique. Bruylant / Larcier.
• Constitutional impact of withdrawal on the protection of fundamental rights
  
  Frantziou, E. (2022). Constitutional impact of withdrawal on the protection of fundamental rights. In A. Cygan & A. Lazowski (Eds.), Research Handbook on Legal Aspects of Brexit. Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Farrell
  
  Frantziou, E. (2022). Farrell. In G. Butler & A. Lazowski (Eds.), Shaping EU Law the British Way: UK Advocates General at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Hart Publishing.
• The European Union's Special Procedural Rights Before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)
  
  Frantziou, E. (2021). The European Union’s Special Procedural Rights Before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). In H. Ruiz Fabri (Ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law. OUP.

Journal Article

• Horizontal by Design: A Systematic Analysis of the Application of Human Rights to Private Actors in the Text of World Constitutions
  
  Frantziou, E. (in press). Horizontal by Design: A Systematic Analysis of the Application of Human Rights to Private Actors in the Text of World Constitutions. International Journal of Constitutional Law.
• The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework
  
  Deb, A., Frantziou, E., & Lock, T. (2024). The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 75(3), 488-521. https://doi.org/10.53386/nilq.v75i3.1118
• Human Rights as an Example of Cooperative Federalism? A Chronology of the Use of the Preliminary Reference Procedure in Human Rights Cases between 1957 and 2023
  
  Frantziou, E. (2023). Human Rights as an Example of Cooperative Federalism? A Chronology of the Use of the Preliminary Reference Procedure in Human Rights Cases between 1957 and 2023. European Journal of Legal Studies, 15(CJEU Special Issue), 189-220. https://doi.org/10.2924/EJLS.2023CJEU.007
• Understanding the Implications of Article 2 of the Northern Ireland Protocol in the Context of EU Case Law Developments
  
  Frantziou, E., & Craig, S. (2022). Understanding the Implications of Article 2 of the Northern Ireland Protocol in the Context of EU Case Law Developments. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, 73(S2), 65-88. https://doi.org/10.53386/nilq.v73is2.1059
• Was Brexit a Form of Secession?
  
  Frantziou, E. (2022). Was Brexit a Form of Secession? Global Policy, 13(S2), 69-78. https://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.13062
• Joined cases C-804/18 and C-341/19, IX v WABE eV and MH Muller Handels GmbH v MJ: religious neutrality in a private workplace? Employer friendly and far from neutral
  
  Frantziou, E. (2021). Joined cases C-804/18 and C-341/19, IX v WABE eV and MH Muller Handels GmbH v MJ: religious neutrality in a private workplace? Employer friendly and far from neutral. European Law Journal, 46(5), 674-684.
• The Horizontal Effect of Human Rights after Brexit: A Matter of Renewed Constitutional Significance
  
  Frantziou, E. (2021). The Horizontal Effect of Human Rights after Brexit: A Matter of Renewed Constitutional Significance. European Human Rights Law Review, 2021(4), 365-388.
• The Horizontal Effect of the Charter: Towards an Understanding of Horizontality as a Structural Constitutional Principle?
  
  Frantziou, E. (2020). The Horizontal Effect of the Charter: Towards an Understanding of Horizontality as a Structural Constitutional Principle? The Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies., 22, 208-232. https://doi.org/10.1017/cel.2020.7
• (Most of) the Charter of Fundamental Rights is Horizontally Applicable: ECJ 6 November 2018, Joined Cases C-569/16 and C-570/16, Bauer et al
  
  Frantziou, E. (2019). (Most of) the Charter of Fundamental Rights is Horizontally Applicable: ECJ 6 November 2018, Joined Cases C-569/16 and C-570/16, Bauer et al. European Constitutional Law Review, 15(2), 306-323. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1574019619000166
• The Binding Charter Ten Years On: More Than A Mere Entreaty?
  
  Frantziou, E. (2019). The Binding Charter Ten Years On: More Than A Mere Entreaty? Yearbook of European Law, 38, 73-73. https://doi.org/10.1093/yel/yez009
• Constitutional Reasoning in the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights: In Search of Public Justification
  
  Frantziou, E. (2019). Constitutional Reasoning in the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights: In Search of Public Justification. European Public Law, 25(2), 183-203. https://doi.org/10.54648/euro2019013
• Brexit and Article 50 TEU: a constitutionalist reading
  
  Eeckhout, P., & Frantziou, E. (2017). Brexit and Article 50 TEU: a constitutionalist reading. Common Market Law Review, 54(3), 695-733.
• The Horizontal Effect of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: Rediscovering the Reasons for Horizontality
  
  Frantziou, E. (2015). The Horizontal Effect of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights: Rediscovering the Reasons for Horizontality. European Law Journal, 21(5), 657-679. https://doi.org/10.1111/eulj.12137
• Further Developments in the Right to be Forgotten: The European Court of Justice's Judgment in Case C-131/12, Google Spain, SL, Google Inc v Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos
  
  Frantziou, E. (2014). Further Developments in the Right to be Forgotten: The European Court of Justice’s Judgment in Case C-131/12, Google Spain, SL, Google Inc v Agencia Espanola de Proteccion de Datos. Human Rights Law Review, 14(4), 761-777. https://doi.org/10.1093/hrlr/ngu033
• Case C-176/12 Association de Médiation Sociale: Some Reflections on the Horizontal Effect of the Charter and the Reach of Fundamental Employment Rights in the European Union
  
  Frantziou, E. (2014). Case C-176/12 Association de Médiation Sociale: Some Reflections on the Horizontal Effect of the Charter and the Reach of Fundamental Employment Rights in the European Union. European Constitutional Law Review, 10(02), 332-348. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1574019614001205

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

• Paid Annual Leave and Collective Agreements after the TSN Judgment (C-609/17 and C-610/17)
  
  Frantziou, E. (in press). Paid Annual Leave and Collective Agreements after the TSN Judgment (C-609/17 and C-610/17).
• The right to privacy while working from home (‘WFH’): why employee monitoring infringes Art 8 ECHR
  
  Frantziou, E. (2020, October 5). The right to privacy while working from home (‘WFH’): why employee monitoring infringes Art 8 ECHR.
• Joined Cases C-569/16 and C-570/16 Bauer et al: (Most of) the Charter of Fundamental Rights Is Horizontally Applicable
  
  Frantziou, E. (2019). Joined Cases C-569/16 and C-570/16 Bauer et al: (Most of) the Charter of Fundamental Rights Is Horizontally Applicable [Blog].
• Administrative Formalities and Collective Disenfranchisement: the Situation of EU citizens in the UK #DeniedAvote during the European Parliament Elections 2019
  
  Frantziou, E. (2019). Administrative Formalities and Collective Disenfranchisement: the Situation of EU citizens in the UK #DeniedAvote during the European Parliament Elections 2019.
• ‘Mangold Recast? The ECJ’s Flirtation with Drittwirkung in Egenberger’
  
  Frantziou, E. (2018, April 24). ‘Mangold Recast? The ECJ’s Flirtation with Drittwirkung in Egenberger’.
• Farewell to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights? The Withdrawal Act and the Danger of Losing Fundamentals
  
  Frantziou, E. (2018). Farewell to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights? The Withdrawal Act and the Danger of Losing Fundamentals.
• Brexit Transitional Period: The Solution Is Article 50
  
  Frantziou, E., & Łazowski, A. (2017). Brexit Transitional Period: The Solution Is Article 50.

Report

• The Interaction between the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and General Principles with the Windsor Framework
  
  Frantziou, E., Lock, T., & Deb, A. (2024). The Interaction between the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and General Principles with the Windsor Framework. Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.
• European Union Developments in Equality and Human Rights: The Impact of Brexit on the Divergence of Rights and Best Practice on the Island of Ireland
  
  Frantziou, E., Horne, A., Rooney, J., Deb, A., Craig, S., & Murray, C. (2022). European Union Developments in Equality and Human Rights: The Impact of Brexit on the Divergence of Rights and Best Practice on the Island of Ireland. Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
• Evidence to the Independent Human Rights Act Review, Human Rights Centre, Durham Law School
  
  Douglas, B., Fenwick, H., Frantziou, E., Kagiaros, D., O’Loughlin, E., Masterman, R., & Pillay, A. (2021). Evidence to the Independent Human Rights Act Review, Human Rights Centre, Durham Law School.