Profile
Alain Zysset

Alain Zysset

Co-Investigator, Global Health Centre
Professor of Global Public Law, School of Law, University of Glasgow
Spoken languages
French, English, German, Spanish

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

  • Human Rights Law, in particular the ECHR
  • International Criminal Law, in particular International Crimes
  • International Courts and Tribunals
  • Legal and Political Theory, in particular Human Rights, Democracy, Legitimacy and the Rule of Law
  • Research Methods, in particular multidisciplinary approaches to Law

 

PROFILE:

Alain is Professor of Global Public Law at the School of Law, University of Glasgow, Scotland, and Co-Principal Investigator of the MILE Project at the GGI.

Trained in Philosophy, History and Law, Alain specialises in the philosophy of international law and its practices. Alain has authored two monographs: Responding to Authoritarian Populism at the European Court of Human Rights: A Calibrated Framework (Cambridge, 2026) and The ECHR and Human Rights Theory: Reconciling the Moral and the Political Conceptions (Routledge, 2016). His research has also appeared in the International Journal of Constitutional Law, Human Rights Law Review, Global Constitutionalism, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, Ratio Juris and Criminal Law and Philosophy, among others.

Recently, Alain was awarded fellowships from the European University Institute (Fernand Braudel Fellow), the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security, and Law in Freiburg (Senior Fellow) and Michigan Law School (International & Comparative Law Research Scholar). In addition to his academic roles, Alain also sits on the board of the Risk Management Authority, an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government responsible for assessing and managing risks posed by serious violent and sexual offenders.

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

 

Monographs

  • Responding to Authoritarian Populism at the European Court of Human Rights: A Calibrated Framework (Cambridge University Press, 2026), 278 pp.
  • The European Conventionon Human Rights and Human Rights Theory : Reconciling the Moral and the Political Conceptions (Routledge, 2016), 249 pp.

 

Articles

  • ‘Uncovering the Nature of ECHR Rights: An Analytical and Methodological Framework’ (with Bosko Tripkovic), Human Rights Law Review, vol. 24, no.1 (2024), pp. 1-22
  • ‘International Crimes through the Lens of Global Constitutionalism’, GlobalConstitutionalism, vol. 12, no. 1 (2023), pp. 59-79
  • ‘Calibrating the Response to Populism at the European Court of Human Rights’, InternationalJournalofConstitutionalLaw, vol. 20, no 3 (2022), pp. 976–1005
  • ‘Legitimacy as Procedure: Strengthening the Legitimate Authority of the UN Committee on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights’ (with Antoinette Scherz), Global Constitutionalism, vol.10, no. 3 (2022), pp. 524-546
  • ‘Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law: A Structural Account’, RatioJuris, vol. 32, no. 3 (2019), pp. 278–30
  • ‘Searching for the Legitimacy of the European Court of Human Rights: The Neglected Role of “Democratic Society”’, GlobalConstitutionalism, vol. 5, no. 1 (2016), pp. 14–41
  • ‘Refining the Structure and Revisiting the Relevant Jurisdiction of Crimes against Humanity’,CanadianJournalofLawandJurisprudence, vol. 29, no.1 (2016), pp. 23–45