Flavia Patanè

Flavia Patanè is a PhD researcher and tutor at the Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, affiliated with the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology. She is also a member of the Board of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights and a qualified lawyer with extensive experience in international and European legal institutions.

Research Interests: Her work focuses on the intersection of criminal law and migration, particularly the involvement of irregular migrants in human smuggling, crimmigration policies, European asylum systems, and international criminal law. She integrates criminological, criminal law, and human rights frameworks using empirical methodologies.

The recent publications reflect a strong engagement with policy development in the EU, critical analysis of international criminal law literature, and empirical case studies on the prosecution of asylum-seekers in Italy. Her research bridges legal theory, human rights advocacy, and practical policy reform.

Scientific Contributions:

• Active contributor to EU-level policy assessments on migrant smuggling and trafficking.
• Published in high-impact journals such as Journal of International Criminal Justice and Refugee Survey Quarterly.

Teaching and Professional Engagement: Flavia teaches International Criminal Law and supranational criminology of gross human rights violations. Her career includes research at the Centre for International Criminal Justice (Amsterdam), legal work at the Court of Appeal in Catania, and operational experience with Eurojust’s Joint Investigation Teams Network Secretariat.

Labs and Research Groups: She is affiliated with the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, contributing to interdisciplinary research on migration, justice, and human rights.