Academic Profile

I hold an LLB from the University of Athens, where I also obtained my first postgraduate degree, an LLM in EU and International Law. My LLM thesis focused on the way the ECJ constructs notions of the market in its case law. I then went to Paris, France to study legal theory at Université Paris X-Nanterre. In my DEA thesis I explored the problems posed by the Critical Legal Studies movement’s critique of rights. Immediately afterwards I was awarded a Research Scholarship to continue my doctoral studies. I subsequently obtained my PhD with distinction (summa cum laude) from Université Paris X-Nanterre. In my PhD thesis I argued that the reasonable pluralism of views about the value of prenatal human life precludes the attribution of legal personhood to the human embryo and foetus. My thesis was awarded a Paul Ricœur prize and was published in 2010.

I joined the School of Law in 2012. Prior to that, I worked as a part-time Teaching Assistant at the University of Athens. During the same time, I was a senior associate in a law firm specializing in EU Law.

Qualifications

• PhD, Université Paris X-Nanterre
• DEA, Université Paris X-Nanterre
• LLM, University of Athens
• LLB, University of Athens

Teaching and Learning

My teaching is a reflection of my research interests and strengths. The topics I teach draw on previous work on legal theory and the interaction between fundamental rights and bioethics from a domestic, European and international perspective. I am particularly interested in the regulation of IVF and new biotechnologies, as well as on the moral and legal status of prenatal human life.

Through my teaching, I aim to inspire students and to instil analytical rigour and the argumentative attitude that are essential in successful legal practice.

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate	Postgraduate and MA
Jurisprudence: Law and Morality (Convenor)	Principles of Bioethics
The Theory and Practice of the Human Rights Act 1998	The Research Process
Contemporary Issues in Healthcare Law and Ethics

Research Interests

• The nature and function of bioethics norms
• The content and protection of fundamental rights
• European and international human rights law
• Comparative constitutional law
• Legal theory and theories of judicial reasoning

Key Publications

Plomer, A. & Tsarapatsanis, D. (2013) The Asymmetry of Human Dignity as a Constitutional Value and Fundamental Human Right in Europe. In 12 Global Community YILJ (G. Ziccardi Capaldo ed., 2012)

Tsarapatsanis, D. (2010) Les fondements éthiques des discours juridiques sur le statut de la vie humaine anténatale, (“The Ethical Foundations of Legal Discourses on the Status of Prenatal Human Life”) (in French), Paul Ricœur Prize, Presses de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense

Tsarapatsanis, D. (2010) The Legal Concept of Marriage as an Interpretive Concept. A Dworkinian Tack on Gay Marriage” (in French) (Le concept juridique de mariage en tant que concept interprétatif. Une approche dworkinienne du mariage homosexuel). In Guillaume Delmas, Sarah-Marie Maffesoli et Sébastien Robbe (eds.), Le traitement juridique du sexe, Harmattan, p. 31-46

Professional Activities and Recognition

• Attorney at Law, Athens Bar
• Member of the Centre de Théorie et d’Analyse du Droit (CTAD), Université Paris Ouest-Nanterre La Défense