Dr Erin O'Leary
Head of Law
Erin is a lecturer in Public and EU Law. Her main areas of research interest lie in: European language rights, inconsistent translation in ECJ case law, Western linguistic theory, identity formation and post-Enlightenment nation-state building theory.
Erin joined the Law School in 2017 having previously worked in the University’s Centre for Foundation Studies. Erin also previously worked at Liverpool John Moores’ International Study Centre, as well as working as a sessional lecturer and research assistant in LJMU’s Law School.
Erin’s main areas of interest are: International and European language rights; The Rule of Law and the EU; Inconsistent translation in ECJ case law; Western linguistic theory; Identity formation; Post-Enlightenment nation-state building theory.
Whilst doing her PhD at LJMU, Erin worked as the department’s research assistant and was primarily responsible for assisting in the writing of the REF 2014 Impact Report (Content: ‘Improving the structure and content of psychiatric reports for sentencing’, Roger Evans) and assisting with research for peer-reviewed publications (e.g. ‘The Sub-national Dimension of the EU: A Legal Study of Multilevel Governance’, (Springer International Publishing, 2015), Carlo Panara). Erin has also contributed to research on the principle of subsidiarity, collective security, state secession, parental alienation syndrome, current legal reform in China and 21st century comparative law.
- Public Law (Level 4)
- English Legal System and Method (Level 4)
- European Union Law (Level 5)
Erin has presented at conferences across the UK and Europe.
Selected conference papers
Collective identity in the nation and the supra-nation: forging social legitimacy through supra-national identity formation in the age of Brexit, Council of European Studies, Madrid, June 2019.
The use of the English Language in EU Institutions post-Brexit: a socio-legal perspective on how Brexit could instigate the forging of an EU demos, European Sociological Association, Manchester, September 2019.
‘Identity Formation in the European Union: Overcoming Linguistic Diversity through Demos Formation’, UACES University of Kent in Brussels, May 2016.
‘Linguistic Human Rights and the European Union’, LJMU PGR conference, May 2014.
‘Multilingualism and the EU: United in Diversity or Divided in Diversity?’, Cumberland Lodge, Beyond the PhD Conference, July 2013.
‘The EU: Beyond Multilingualism’, LJMU European Union Law Conference, June 2013.
‘Multilingualism and the EU: United in Diversity or Divided in Diversity?’, King’s College London, International Graduate Legal Research Conference, April 2013.
‘Multilingualism in the European Union: The 23 floors of the Tower of Babel’, LJMU Postgraduate research conference, October 2012 - won ‘best paper’ conference prize.
FORTHCOMING
Collective identity in the nation and the supra-nation: forging social legitimacy through supra-national identity formation in the age of Brexit’, Comparative European Politics, under review.
‘Brexit: The Golden Chalice of European Demos Formation?’, Council of European Studies, 50th Anniversary Volume, publication forthcoming in June 2020.
‘The European Union’s Identity Crisis: looking beyond Constitutional Patriotism, Deep-diversity and a Rights-based Union for demos formation at the EU level’ (expected publication 2019).
‘Identity formation in the European Union: Overcoming linguistic diversity through demos formation’, published conference paper, UACES: The academic association for contemporary European studies.
‘Child abuse in England and Wales 2003-2013: Newspaper Reporting vs Reality’, Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, October 2015 - Dr Emma Davies, Erin O’Leary, Professor John Read.
- BA Hons French and English Literature – University of Sheffield
- Graduate Diploma in Law – Liverpool John Moores University
- PhD (Law) – Liverpool John Moores University
Professional Membership
- Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
- Member of the Society of Legal Scholars