On 8 December 2022, the School of Law of UCLan Cyprus held a Research Day. This event, organised within the framework of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence CRoLEV successfully gathered advanced students, legal professionals, experts in the field of the rule of law and various stakeholders. The event took place in hybrid format, with several participants on campus and other online via MS Teams. The event was divided into two parts. The first part, entitled ‘Research Themed Workshop’ featured a lecture by Dr Henrik Andersen, a Senior Visiting fellow of UCLan Cyprus.

Professor Stéphanie Laulhé Shaelou, Head of the School of Law of UCLan Cyprus and CRoLEV Director delivered the Welcome Address. In her address, Prof. Laulhé Shaelou introduced CRoLEV, explaining how the Centre is structured, and identifying the various broad objectives it seeks to realise. Following the opening remarks, Dr Andreas Marcou, Lecturer in EU Law and Theory at UCLan Cyprus and CRoLEV Chief Researcher and Dr Katerina Kalaitzaki, Lecturer in EU Business Law and CRoLEV Senior Researcher provided a presentation of the Beyond-the-state-of-the-art Analysis, one of the project’s Deliverables available here. In their presentation, they identified the specific research objectives CRoLEV seeks to achieve, provided a brief analysis of the literature review conducted on the theoretical discussion on the rule of law and how that is related to European values, and outlined the various existing frameworks and empirical indices that CRoLEV’s empirical research will seek to completement. Following these remarks from the CRoLEV team, Dr Henrik Andersen delivered his lecture.

Dr Andersen explored the connections between climate justice, the rule of law and fundamental rights. Turning to the ways in which courts have dealt with questions on climate justice, he explored how the ‘substantive due process’ argument, developed by American courts, has also been used (with different framing) in European courts as well. This, he argued, shows a willingness on the part of the courts to connect climate justice with principles of the rule of law, which is, in turn, inherently linked with ideas of individual freedom.

The second part of the day, entitled ‘CRoLEV Interdisciplinary Research Workshop’, primarily targeted advanced, graduate, and post-graduate students. The presentations delivered in the second part of the workshop were designed to support and assist the research journey of post-graduate students, and to propose various tips on issues of methodology.

Kicking off the second part of the day, Dr Andrea Ferguson, Head of the Graduate Research School, UCLan, discussed the ‘Future of Doctoral Education’. During her presentation, she discussed the current status of doctoral research at UCLan, the School’s strategy, while touching on challenges for doctoral education in the future. Next, Dr Josephina Antoniou, Associate Professor in Computing, Research Degree Tutor, School of Sciences, and Ethics Committee Chair, UCLan Cyprus, analysed ‘Research Ethics Considerations’. Her presentation identified various ethical considerations and dilemmas researchers often face. The following contribution by Dr Lida Pitsillidou, Lecturer in Company Law and Corporate Governance and Research Degree Tutor of the School of Law, on ‘Thesis Writing’ proposed a series of valuable tips and strategies that are useful for all graduate students.

The remaining contributions tackled questions more directly relevant to research methodologies. The fourth presentation of the workshop was delivered by Dr Ioanna Stylianou, Assistant Professor in Statistics and Economics, Deputy Head and Research Degree Tutor, School of Business and Management, UCLan Cyprus. It was entitled ‘Analysing and presenting data’ and discussed the various ways in which empirical research may be carried out, identified appropriate empirical methodologies, and explaining ways in which data collected could be analysed and presented. Concluding the Research Day, Dr Katerina Kalaitzaki and Dr Andreas Marcou presented the ‘CRoLEV Methodologies’ that are/will be used by the CRoLEV team to realise the project’s research objectives. CRoLEV employs a series of methodologies, favouring inter-disciplinary, socio-legal research that view EU law within the broader social context.

The CRoLEV Research day successfully brought together various students, undergraduate and post-graduate, as well as legal professionals and researchers. Dr Andersen’s lecture raised a series of innovative questions regarding the interplay of the rule of law, climate justice, and the role of the courts. The latter part of the day offered invaluable insight to graduate students on various issues related to research.

The video of the full event will be made publicly available on the CRoLEV website in due course. Please visit https://crolev.eu/