Areas of interest
Vilija specialises in EU and public law. Her research interests include: federalism and the balance of competences and powers in the EU; the intersection between the EU’s economic rules and social policy; fundamental rights, with a focus on socio-economic rights; and the UK’s regulatory framework post-Brexit.
Background
Vilija joined the School of Law as Lecturer in Law in September 2023. She was previously British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oxford Faculty of Law, where she also held the position as a Lecturer in EU Law and Constitutional Law. She also led seminars in Law and Public Policy for students reading for the MPP degree at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. Prior to that, Vilija was Emile Noël Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Jean Monnet Center at NYU School of Law.
Academic qualifications
Vilija holds a doctorate in EU Law from the University of Oxford, where she also graduated from the Magister Juris (Distinction) and MPhil in Law degrees, all three supported by the highly competitive Weidenfeld Scholarship. During her doctorate, she was awarded Michigan Grotius Research Fellowship and spent a semester at the University of Michigan.
Vilija completed Bachelor of Laws and Master’s in International Law degrees at the Mykolas Romeris University in Lithuania, where she was ranked top of the class for both degrees. During this time, Vilija also studied at Paul Cézanne (Aix-Marseille III) University (France) and Ghent University(Belgium). After graduation, Vilija held a position as a Lecturer of International Law at Mykolas Romeris University and later worked as a stagiaire at the Legal Service of the European Commission.
Awards and honours
Vilija’s monograph Judicial Authority in EU Internal Market Law: Implications for the Balance of Competences and Powers (Hart Publishing 2022), funded by the British Academy, was awarded the Second Prize in the SLS 2024 Peter Birks Book Prize competition for Outstanding Early Career Legal Scholarship. It also received the Recognition Award from Oxford University Faculty of Law (2023) and was shortlisted for the UACES 2023 Best Book Prize for the most substantial and original contribution to knowledge in contemporary European studies.
V V臈lyvyt臈, Judicial Authority in EU Internal Market Law: Implications for the Balance of Competences and Powers (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2022) 312 pp.
- Winner of SLS 2024 Second Peter Birks Book Prize for Outstanding Early Career Legal Scholarship; finalist for UACES 2023 Best Book Prize for the most substantial and original contribution to knowledge in contemporary European studies.
P Craig, V V臈lyvyt臈 (eds), The UK Regulatory Framework Post-Brexit: 'Law Unbound' (Oxford: OUP, forthcoming in 2026).
Journal Articles
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘Competence Creep in EU Free Movement Case Law’ (2023) 48(6) European Law Review 636–660.
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘The Power to Shape the Internal Market: Implications of CJEU Case Law for the EU’s Institutional Balance’ (2016) 12 Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy 25–47.
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘Right to Strike in the EU after Accession to the ECHR: Identifying Conflict and Achieving Coherence’ (2015) 15 (1) Human Rights Law Review 73–100.
Contributions to Books
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘Judicial Authority’, in S Garben, L Gormley (eds), Oxford Encyclopedia of EU law (Oxford: OUP), entry published 21 June 2024, 17 pp.
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘The Right to Strike in the EU after Accession to the ECHR: A Practical Assessment’ in M Freedland and J Prassl (eds) EU Law in the Member States: Viking, Laval and Beyond (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2014) 75–94.
Open Access Conference Papers
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘Are Social Rights “Rights”? – A Reply to C Barnard’ (European Centre of Expertise in the Field of Labour Law Annual Conference 2019: The Charter of Fundamental Rights from an EU Labour Law Perspective, European Commission, Brussels), available at dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4274202.
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘A Constitution with Multiple Judicial Voices: The Challenge of Canon Construction in European Constitutionalism’ (ICONs Annual Conference 2018, Hong Kong), available at ssrn.com/abstract=4332713.
Blog Posts
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘Brits (still) have the right to timely healthcare’ (UK in a Changing Europe, 18 January 2024), available at .
V V臈lyvyt臈, ‘Does the European Court of Justice Respect the Limits of EU Competence?’ (EU Law Analysis, 18 December 2022), available at .
Book Reviews
V V臈lyvyt臈, Book Review: The Changing European Union: A Critical View on the Role of Law and the Courts, edited by T Capeta, I Goldner Lang & T Perišin (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2022), (2023) 48(5) European Law Review 610–613.
