https://doi.org/10.59711/jims.12.110017
Meet Our Editorial Board Member
Prof. Patricia Vella de Fremeaux
Patricia Vella de Fremeaux (Mallia) is Professor and Head of the Department of International Law at the University of Malta. She graduated in Law (LLD) from the University of Malta and Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) from Oxford University. She obtained her PhD from the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, focusing on contemporary threats to maritime security and notably, the smuggling of migrants. Her research interests focus on issues relating to the law of the sea, primarily, on the analysis of contemporary maritime threats, the human element of maritime security and maritime migration. She has made significant contributions to the legal discourse on maritime migration, human rights at sea, and international maritime governance.
Professor Vella de Fremeaux has published widely both locally and abroad. Her research has led to a number of publications, including Migrant Smuggling by Sea (Brill | Nijhoff, 2010) which remains a key reference in the field, and contributions to the Research Handbook on Ocean Governance Law (EE publishing, 2023). Professor Vella de Fremeaux has also contributed to The Maltese Legal System (Malta University Press, Vol I, IIA and IIB). Her articles explore topics such as human rights implications in maritime law, the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, and maritime migrant smuggling and maritime search and rescue.
She has been an invited guest lecturer at institutions such as the University of Maine and the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies where she has delivered lectures on maritime migration, human rights, and international dispute settlement. She is also a Visiting Fellow at the IMO International Maritime Law Institute and a Fellow at the Centre for European Legal Studies on Macro-Crime at the University of Ferrara. In addition to her scholarly work, she serves on numerous academic boards and has played a key role in the establishment of several international academic programs. She is an expert consultant and member of international advisory boards.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
1. Research Handbook on Ocean Governance Law; Borg, S., Attard, F.G., Mallia, P., Eds.; Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham Northampton, MA, 2023; ISBN 978-1-83910-768-9. [Crossref]
2. Borg, S.; Mallia Vella De Fremeaux, P.; Attard, F.G. Introduction to the Research Handbook on Ocean Governance Law. In Research Handbook on Ocean Governance Law; Borg, S., Attard, F.G., Vella De Fremeaux, P.M., Eds.; Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023; pp. 1–8 ISBN 978-1-83910-769-6. [Crossref]
3. Mallia Vella De Fremeaux, P.; Attard, F.G. Smuggling of Migrants and Trafficking in Persons by Sea. In Research Handbook on Ocean Governance Law; Borg, S., Attard, F.G., Vella De Fremeaux, P.M., Eds.; Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023; pp. 363–380 ISBN 978-1-83910-769-6. [Crossref]
4. Gauci, J.-P.; Cassar, C.M.; Fremeaux, P.V.D. Quo Vadis? Some Reflections on Malta’s Migration Management Trajectory. In Law and Migration in a Changing World; Foblets, M.-C., Carlier, J.-Y., Eds.; Ius Comparatum – Global Studies in Comparative Law; Springer International Publishing: Cham, 2022; Vol. 31, pp. 485–515 ISBN 978-3-319-99506-9. [Crossref]
5. Vella De Fremeaux (Mallia), P.; Attard, F.G. Views Adopted by the Committee Under Article 5(4) of the Optional Protocol, Concerning A.S., D.I., O.I., and G.D. v. Italy, Communication No. 3042/2017 (U.N. Hum. Rts. Comm.). Int. Leg. Mater. 2022, 61, 41–60, doi:10.1017/ilm.2021.29. [Crossref]
6. Mallia, P.; Testa, D. Elisabeth Mann Borgese, Gender and the Law of the Sea. In Gender and the Law of the Sea; Papanicolopulu, I., Ed.; Brill | Nijhoff, 2019; pp. 106–121 ISBN 978-90-04-37517-8. [Crossref]
7. Gauci, J.-P.; Mallia, P. The Migrant Smuggling Protocol and the Need for a Multi-Faceted Approach: Inter-Sectionality and Multi-Actor Cooperation. In “Boat Refugees” and Migrants at Sea: A Comprehensive Approach; Moreno-Lax, V., Papastavridis, E., Eds.; Brill | Nijhoff, 2017; pp. 117–144 ISBN 978-90-04-30075-0. [Crossref]
8. Mallia, P. The Human Element of Maritime Crime: Stowaways, Human Trafficking, and Migrant Smuggling. In The IMLI Manual on International Maritime Law: Marine Environmental Law and International Maritime Security Law; Oxford University Press: Oxford, the UK, 2016; Vol. 3, pp. 491–510 ISBN 978-0-19-968394-9. [Crossref]
9. Mallia, P. The Cooperative Mechanism Established by the Migrant Smuggling Protocol to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. In Migration in the Mediterranean; Ippolito, F., Trevisanut, S., Eds.; Cambridge University Press, 2016; pp. 288–307 ISBN 978-1-316-10433-0. [Crossref]
10. Attard, D.J.; Mallia, P. The High Seas. In The IMLI Manual on International Maritime Law; Attard, D.J., Fitzmaurice, M., Martínez Gutiérrez, N.A., Eds.; Oxford University Press, 2014; pp. 239–275 ISBN 978-0-19-968392-5. [Crossref]