• LLM in European Law (Birmingham)
• PhD (Birmingham)

Dr Gulara Guliyeva received a Diploma in Law from Baku State University, and an LLM in International Law from Western University, both in Baku, Azerbaijan. She taught Public International Law and European Union Law at Western University (2001-2005). She also worked on Rule of Law and Legal Education Reform projects at an International NGO in Baku. In 2006, she graduated from the University of Birmingham with an LLM in European Law as a Chevening Scholar. Upon graduation, she commenced a PhD programme at the Birmingham Law School. In 2010 she completed a PhD thesis on “The Rights of Minorities in the European Union”. In the same year, she was made a Teaching Fellow at Birmingham Law School, and in 2011 she was appointed as a lecturer.

LLM (module leader):

• European Human Rights Law
• EU Competition Law

Undergraduate:

• Legal Foundations of the European Union

• European Human Rights Law
• EU Anti-Discrimination Law
• Fundamental Rights in the EU
• Minority Rights

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Find out more - our PhD Law  page has information about doctoral research at the University of Birmingham.

Dr Gulara Guliyeva has been studying EU law since 1999. Initially, she researched and published predominantly in the area of EU external relations. In 2006, while writing her LLM thesis on EU accession conditionality to Turkey, she was fascinated by commentators’ harsh criticisms to external and internal discrepancy in EU’s minority protection. She decided to investigate the state of minority protection within the EU. The title of her PhD thesis was “The Rights of Minorities in the European Union”. The thesis focused on several case studies concerning the most problematic aspects of minority protection, such as political rights, education in a minority language, freedom to manifest religion in publicly-funded schools, and the right to autonomy. The case studies tested the potential of existing EU rules to address minority issues in EU Member States, such as Latvia, Belgium and the UK. Finally, drawing on the conclusions of all of the case studies, an EU regime for minority protection was proposed. Dr Guliyeva’s current and future research aspirations include EU Anti-Discrimination Law, Fundamental Rights in the EU, European Human Rights Law, and Minority Rights Law.

Dr Gulara Guliyeva is Head of Student Development and Support.

Chapters in books:

• 'The EU and the Protection of Minority Rights: A Functional Approach' in Krzysztof Drzewicki (ed.) 5th Warsaw Seminar on Human Rights (KONTRAST, 2012), 96-113
• 'Kosovo's independence: re-examining the principles established by the EC Badinter Commission in light of the ICJ's Advisory Opinion' in James Summers (ed.) Kosovo: A Precedent? The Declaration of Independence, the Advisory Opinion and Implications for Statehood, Self-Determination and Minority Rights (Brill, Leiden forthcoming 2011) 279-302
• 'Denial of Citizenship to National Minorities in Latvia: Past, Present, and Future' in R. Ganis (ed.) Displacement and Belonging in the Contemporary World (European Studies Research Institute, Salford 2008) 129-146
• 'Democratization and Rule of Law in Azerbaijan: Europe's relevance' in C.Waters (ed.) The State of Law in the South Caucasus (Palgrave Macmillan, Hampshire 2005) 41-58

Articles:

• 'Education, Languages and Linguistic Minorities in the EU: Challenges and Perspective' (2013) 19(2) European Law Journal, 219-236
• 'Defining the Indefinable: A Definition of 'Minority' in EU Law' (2012) 9 European Yearbook of Minority Issues 179-210
• 'Collective rights of minorities: Exploring a normative basis for internal and external self-determination' (2011) Europa Ethnica 50-58
• 'Minority groups and litigation: A review of developments in international and regional jurisprudence' (co-authored with Mauro Barelli, Stefania Errico and Gaetano Pentassuglia) (Minority Rights Group, 2011) 5-29
• 'Joining Forces or Reinventing the Wheel? The EU and the protection of national minorities' in G. Guliyeva & G. Pentassuglia (eds), 'Minority Groups Across Legal Settings: Global and Regional Dimensions' (Special Issue) (2010) 17(2) International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 287-305 
• Editorial (with Dr Gaetano Pentassuglia) in G. Guliyeva & G. Pentassuglia (eds), 'Minority Groups Across Legal Settings: Global and Regional Dimensions' (Special Issue) (2010) 17(2) International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 211-213
• Book review: A. Verstichel, A. Alen, B. De Witte and P. Lemmens (eds.), Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: A Useful Pan-European Instrument? (2010) 16(2) European Law Journal 247-249
• Book review: K. Henrard and R. Dunbar (eds.) Synergies in Minority Protection: European and International Law Perspectives (2010) 17(1) International Journal on Minority and Group Rights 203-209
• 'Lost in Transition: Russian-speaking non-citizens in Latvia and the protection of minority rights in the European Union' (2008)33European Law Review 843-869