Roza Pati
Dr. Pati is St. John Paul II Distinguished Professor of Law at St. Thomas University College of Law, the first faculty member to receive an endowed Chair at St. Thomas University Benjamin L. Crump College of Law. She is Director of the Master of Laws and the Doctorate of the Science of Law in Intercultural Human Rights, Founder and Director of the John J. Brunetti Human Trafficking Academy, Founder and Faculty Advisor of the Intercultural Human Rights Law Review as well as of the Susan J. Ferrell Intercultural Human Rights Moot Court Competition. Dr. Pati is also Editor-in-Chief of the international series: Studies in Intercultural Human Rights, published by BRILL/ Martinus Nijhoff.
Formerly a Member of Parliament and a Cabinet Member serving as the Secretary of State for Youth and Women in the national government of Albania, and Chair of the District Council of Lezhe (North-West Region in Albania), Dr. Pati has a wealth of experience in legislative and executive public service as well as in legal academy.
Dr. Pati has the distinct honor of having been granted Papal appointments of five-year tenures by two Popes. In 2012, she was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as Member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at The Vatican (the only U.S. member at that time; also confirmed by Pope Francis), and in 2020, Dr. Pati was appointed by the Holy Father Pope Francis to serve as Member of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, The Vatican.
Dr. Pati was the Commencement Speaker at the Luarasi University School of Law, Tirana, Albania (2010), and at Carlos Albizu University, Miami (2014). For several years she was Visiting Professor of Law at the Romanian-American University in Bucharest, Romania; also Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Kerala, Department of Law, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India; at the Kerala Law Academy, Trivandrum; and also Visiting Professor of Law at the National University of Advanced Legal Studies, Kochi, Kerala, India; served as Judge of the Final Round of Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, Asia Rounds, Christ University School of Law, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Dr. Pati is the recipient of several community awards including the Voice of Freedom Award (2017) from A Voice in the Wilderness and The Woman’s Table, and the inaugural Gillen-Massey Award (2022). In 2005, Professor Pati facilitated the preparation of The Miami Declaration of Principles on Human Trafficking, a set of law and policy recommendations, and she has made presentations on human trafficking in the capacity of an expert in several national and international symposia, conferences and seminars. Dr. Pati is a prolific scholar who has written extensively in the field of international law, human rights, human trafficking and international criminal law. She is a globally published author of books, book chapters and law review articles in multiple languages and she lectures at academic, governmental and inter-governmental institutions around the world.
Scholarship & Research
Scholarship
Books:
INTERNATIONAL LAW IN CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE (Reisman, Arsanjani, Wiessner, Pati, eds., 2nd Edition., Foundation Press, forthcoming 2026).
HUMAN FLOURISHING: THE END OF LAW (Reisman and Pati, eds., 2023, BRILL/Martinus Nijhoff).
HANDBOOK ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING, PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE LAW: A SPRING SCHOOL FROM THE NEW HAVEN PERSPECTIVE (Kirch, Pati & Wiessner eds. 2014, Georg Thieme Verlag).
Roza Pati, DUE PROCESS AND INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM (2009, Martinus Nijhoff). Favorably Reviewed by: The American Journal of International Law 2011, and The Yale Journal of International Law, 2011.
THE NEW DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS (Pati and Holland, eds., 2005, Xlibris).
Book Chapters:
Roza Pati, Encyclopedia entries on The United Nations Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons; Systemic and Structural Factors of Human Trafficking; Source, Transit, and Destination Countries; EUROJUST, in the SAGE ENCYCLOPEDIA ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND MODERN SLAVERY (Jennifer Bryson Clark et al., eds., SAGE Publications, forthcoming, 2025).
Roza Pati, Regulating Terrorist Activity in Cyberspace: Issues at Stake, in RESEARCH AGENDA ON CYBERPOLICY, (Balleste, Doucet, Hanlon eds., 2025, EE Elgar Publishing).
Roza Pati & Michael Reisman: Siegfried Wiessner: A Life in the Pursuit of Human Flourishing for All, in Human Flourishing: The End of Law (W. Michael Reisman & Roza Pati, eds. 3 (2023, BRILL/Martinus Nijhoff Publishers).
Roza Pati, Neoliberalism and Human Rights, in STATE, CIVIL SOCIETY AND HUMAN RIGHTS: 1st Edition 3 (2020).
Roza Pati, Trafficking in Human Beings: The Convergence of Criminal Law and Human Rights Law, in the SAGE Handbook of Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery (2018, SAGE Publications).
Roza Pati, People on the Move: The Vulnerability of Migrants and Human Trafficking, in Refugiados, Imigrantes e Igualdade dos Povos – Estudos em Homenagem a António Guterres (Pinto, Perazzolo et al, 2017, Quartier Latin Do Brasil).
Roza Pati, The OSCE and the Conflict Cycle through the Prism of the Ukraine Crisis: What Went Wrong?, in Forty Years Since the Signing of the Helsinki Final Act (Institute for Comparative Law & INTERMEX, 2015, Belgrade, Serbia).
Roza Pati, Wilhelm Kirch & Siegfried Wiessner, Handbook on Human Trafficking, Public Health and the Law: A Spring School from the New Haven Perspective (2014, George Thieme Verlag).
Roza Pati, Trafficking in Persons and Transnational Organized Crime: A Policy-Oriented Perspective, in Handbook on Human Traficking, Public Health and the Law: A Spring School from the New Haven Perspective 27 (2014, George Thieme Verlag).
Roza Pati, The Categorical Imperative to End Modern-Day Slavery: Subsidiarity, Privatization, and the State’s Duty to Protect, in Der Staat Im Recht. Festschrift für Eckart Klein zum 70. Geburtstag, 1219 (M. Breuer et al., eds., 2013, Duncker & Humblot).
Roza Pati, Combating Human Trafficking Through Transnational Law Enforcement Cooperation: The Case of South Eastern Europe, in Policing Across Borders: The Role of Law Enforcement in Global Governance (2012, Springer).
Roza Pati, No Cierre Sus Ojos: La Trata Existe–The Global Effort to Combat Human Trafficking: Its Strengths & Weaknesses, in Libro de Derecho Penal Especial (2012, Universidad Libre, Columbia).
Roza Pati, Beyond the Duty to Protect: Expanding Accountability and Responsibilities of the State in Combating Human Trafficking, in The Diversity of International Law: Essays in Honour of Kalliopi Koufa 319 (Aristotle Constantinides & Nikos Zaikos, eds., 2009, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers).
Roza Pati, Due Process and International Terrorism (2009, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers).
Roza Pati, Fair Trial Standards under Human Rights Treaty Law and the ICTY: A Process of Cross-Fertilization?, in ICTY: Towards a Fair Trial? 147 (Thomas Kruessmann ed., 2008, Intersentia).
Roza Pati, Information About the UN Dialogue of Civilizations, in The New Dialogue of Civilizations 16 (Roza Pati & Joe Holland eds., 2005, Xlibris Press).
Roza Pati & Joe Holland, eds., The New Dialogue of Civilizations (2005, Xlibris).
Articles:
Roza Pati, Global Regulation of Corporate Conduct: Effective Pursuit of a Slave-Free Supply Chain, 68 American U. L. Rev. 1821 (2019), available at American University Law Review.
Roza Pati, From the Graceful Sari to the Scourge of Dowry: Indian Women in the Crucible of Tradition, 8 Kerala U. J. of Legal Studies (2015).
Roza Pati, Marshalling the Forces of Good: Religion and the Fight Against Human Trafficking, 9 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 1 (2014). Also published as Blueprint, by Caritas in Veritate Foundation, Geneva, (September 2014), available at Intercultural Human Rights Law Review.
Roza Pati, Human Trafficking: An Issue of Human and National Security, 4 Nat’l Security and Armed Conflict L. Rev. 29 (2014).
Roza Pati, Trading in Humans: A New Haven Perspective, 20 Asia Pacific L. Rev. 135 (2012).
Roza Pati, Domestic Servitude: a Contemporary Form of Slavery, 7 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 9 (2012), available at Intercultural Human Rights Law Review.
Roza Pati, States’ Positive Obligations with Respect to Human Trafficking: The European Court of Human Rights Breaks New Ground in Rantsev v. Cyprus & Russia, 29 B.U. Int’l L.J. 79 (2011). HeinOnline.
Roza Pati, Der Schutz der EMRK bei Menschenhandel: Rantsev v. Zypern und Russland, 2011 Neue Juristische Wochenschrift 128 (2011).
Roza Pati, US Immigration Detention: Policy and Procedure from a Human Rights Perspective-Introductory Remarks, 5 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 5 (2010), available at Intercultural Human Rights Law Review.
Roza Pati, Schwierige Gratwanderung: Die international Terrorismus ist fuer die Demokratie eine grosse Herausforderung, Portal–Das Potsdamer Universitaetsmagazin, Jan.-Mar. 2009, at 28.
Roza Pati, The ICC and the Case of Sudan’s Omar Al Bashir: Is Plea-Bargaining a Valid Option?, 15 U.C. Davis J. Int’l L. & Pol’y 265 (2009). HeinOnline.
Roza Pati, The Miami Declaration of Principles on Human Trafficking: Its Genesis and Purpose, 1 Intercultural Hum. Rts. L. Rev. 5 (2006), available at Intercultural Human Rights Law Review.
Roza Pati, Rights and Their Limits: the Constitution for Europe in International and Comparative Legal Perspective, 23 Berkeley J. Int’l L. 223 (2005), HeinOnline.
Book Reviews:
Roza Pati, Foreword, Donovan McFarlane, Challenges to the Development of an Effective Human Rights System in Jamaica (Melrose Legal Publishers, The Hague, forthcoming 2026).
Roza Pati, Foreword, Mohammad Mahmoud Ibrahim, Women’s Rights Under International, American, Islamic and Egyptian Law: An Irresolvable Conflict? (Koninklijke Brill BV, forthcoming 2025).
Roza Pati, FAMILY LAW CASEBOOK, by Arta Mandro Balili and Juelda Lamce (2022), (“E drejta familjare përmes rasteve praktike” Arta MANDRO-BALILI & Juelda LAMÇE). Recensent:Prof. Dr. Roza PATI (book review in Albanian).
Roza Pati, Foreword, Gabriela Curras DeBellis, Eradicating Human Trafficking: Culture, Law and Policy (BRILL/Nijhoff, 2022).
Roza Pati, Responding to Modern Genocide: At the Confluence of Law and Politics. By Mark D. Kielsgard. London and New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis, 2016. Pp. 255. 10 Reprinted in Changing Dimensions of Legal Horizon, (Majaraja Agrassen University, India, 2017).
Roza Pati, Water: An Essential Element For Life. By Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Vatican City. Vatican Press. 2013. 10 Intercultural Human Rights Law Review 291 (2015).
Additional Publications:
Roza Pati, Interview, Expert: Pandemic exacerbated human trafficking — Hindered global response, says Roza Pati, appointed to Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, The Florida Catholic (April 14, 2021), available at Archdiocese of Miami.
In Opposition to the Community Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2019 (Bill 23-0318, Full Decriminalization of Prostitution), Expert Opinion submitted to Council of the District of Columbia, Committee on the Judiciary & Public Safety, Washington D.C., November 1, 2019.
Roza Pati, Interview, Sex and the Super Bowl, The Florida Catholic (June 24, 2019), available at Archdiocese of Miami.
Roza Pati, Comment, With Pope’s Challenge Comes Call for Attorneys to Fight Climate Change, Daily Business Review (July 2, 2015); also featured at “insights” on the Vatican website on Laudato SI available at: iustitiaetpax.va and Daily Business Review.
Roza Pati, Interview, Expert Predicts Pope Francis will mention human trafficking during U.S. stay: With talks to Congress and elsewhere, the pontiff will have several opportunities to discuss the “shameful plague,” Q&A with Roza Pati, The Florida Catholic (August 2015), available at Miami Archdioceses.
Roza Pati, Interview, by Catholic News Service: In the US, many expect the pope to discuss the ‘shameful plague’ of trafficking August 10, 2015, also posted on: The Catholic Telegraph, The Monitor, or Catholic Crux (Boston Globe).
Courses
Cybersecurity and International Law
International Law
Human Trafficking Law & Policy
Introduction to Human Rights Law
Health and Human Rights
Policy-Oriented Jurisprudence
Comparative Law Seminar
