Senior Lawyer for Europe 

Markella is the AIRE Centre's Senior Lawyer for Europe, a Solicitor qualified to practise in England and Wales and Greek Attorney-at-Law qualified before the Athens Bar Association. Working for the AIRE Centre since 2013, in her current capacity Markella leads the Centre’s work on asylum, migration, and human trafficking cases before the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Her principal field of expertise is migration and asylum law, often combined with related areas such as the law of the sea, exploitation, and gender and children’s rights. In addition to providing free legal advice and representing victims, she delivers tailored expert training to a wide range of stakeholders worldwide, from direct beneficiaries to members of the judiciary, and represents the AIRE Centre at conferences and international forums.

Markella is a PhD candidate in Human Rights Law and Sociology at the Democritus University of Thrace with her academic work running alongside her legal practice. Markella was a Lecturer in Practice at London South Bank University (2013-2024) and has guest lectured at several international academic institutions, including the University of Cambridge, Columbia Law School, and the University of Michigan. She currently serves as a part-time Lecturer for Southampton and Oxford Brookes University (Metropolitan College Campus), where she teaches Maritime Law and Human Rights Law. In parallel, she regularly places her legal research and drafting expertise at the service of European and international organisations such as OSCE/ODIHR, the World Bank and the European Commission.