Dr Stephanie Reynolds Licence en Droit, LLB, PhD, SFHEA
Senior Lecturer in Law Law
- +44 (0)151 794 5691
- Work email S.Reynolds@liverpool.ac.uk
About
Personal Statement
Stephanie was appointed Lecturer in Law at the School of Law and Social Justice in September 2013 and became a Senior Lecturer in October 2017. She is a graduate of L'Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and the University of Liverpool, completing her PhD at the latter institution in March 2015.
Stephanie's area of expertise falls primarily within EU law, specifically EU constitutional law, the law of the single market, Union citizenship and the EU legal framework relating to the protection of fundamental rights. Her most recent research project - 'Voice through Law: Navigating and Negotiating Brexit as a Resident EU Citizen' - analyses the significance of societal 'voice' in the formulation of law and policy on EU citizens' residence rights in the UK, and on the subsequent administrative implementation and judicial application of residence rules. Stephanie's doctoral thesis analysed the Court of Justice's approach to adjudicating tensions between the Treaty free movement provisions and fundamental rights. It posited that a perceived judicial bias for free movement over fundamental rights was actually caused by historically embedded constitutional drivers that create a structural preference for free movement. The thesis then assesses balancing as an alternative adjudicative model, particularly in light of the Union's broader contemporary constitutional ambition.
As well as publishing articles related to her doctoral research in leading journals, Stephanie has published widely in the areas of Union citizenship, EU free movement, and on Brexit-related subjects such as EU citizens' residence rights in the UK and UK media approaches to the EU. She also acted as UK National Expert to the European Parliament in 2016, drafting a report on 'Obstacles to the Right of Free Movement and Residence for EU Citizens and their Family Members'. This was preceded by her appointment, in 2014, as UK co-rapporteur to the XXVI FIDE Congress, hosted by the University of Copenhagen, on the topic of 'Union Citizenship: Development, Impact and Challenges'. Stephanie has also provided both written and oral evidence to UK parliamentary select committees on Brexit and the Northern Irish/Republic of Ireland border, EU citizens' rights in the UK, and on the potential impact of Brexit on human rights. Prior to this, as an active member of the EU Law @ Liverpool research unit, Stephanie contributed to three of the unit's submissions to the UK Government's Balance of Competence Review, evidence from which was cited in the final reports. More broadly, she frequently engages in both media and public engagement activities on Brexit and EU citizens' rights in the UK. Stephanie has been Director of EU Law @ Liverpool since September 2015.
Stephanie enjoys teaching on a wide range of engaging subjects including criminal law, EU law, and the School's innovative Law and Social Justice module.
Prior to joining the School, Stephanie worked in policy and communications at the Merseyside Brussels Office (now Liverpool City Region Brussels Office).