Thesis title

'Unconstitutional punishment'

Supervisors

Professor Nicola Lacey and Professor Peter Ramsay

Research Interests

Criminal Law, criminology, constitutional theory, political theory, legal theory

Valeria Ruiz Perez holds an LLM (Distinction) from the London School of Economics. Her research lies at the intersection of criminal law, criminology, and constitutional theory, exploring the relationship between the tendency towards mass incarceration and state authority. In her doctoral thesis, she focuses on the Colombian penal ‘crisis’, and the constitutional tools designed to address it, as a setting in which the tensions and contradictions behind penal inflation unfold starkly. Through the study of the Colombian contemporary experience, she reflects on broader global trends and recent developments of criminal law and constitutionalism, analysing the role of punishment in the embodiment of the state’s claims of sovereignty and legitimacy.

She has taught various courses at LSE, including Criminal Law, Introduction to the Legal System, Legal Research and Writing Skills, and Introduction to International Human Rights Law (LSE Summer School). In September 2023, she completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. 

Valeria is a recipient of the LSE PhD Studentship and was awarded the Modern Law Review Scholarship (2023-2024).