Paul Linden-Retek

Paul Linden-Retek is an Associate Professor of Law and Co-director of the Buffalo Human Rights Center at the University at Buffalo (SUNY). He holds appointments in the Charles B. Sears Law School and focuses on Constitutional Law and Theory, Comparative Law, European Union Law, Refugee Law, and Critical Political Theory. His work bridges legal scholarship with interdisciplinary critical theory, emphasizing transformative legal frameworks in contexts like European integration and global human rights.

Education: Ph.D. in Political Science and J.D. from Yale University. Prior to academia, he served in legal roles for the Czech Republic’s Human Rights Section, Kosovo’s International Civilian Office, and the EU’s Environmental Department in the Czech Republic. He co-founded Yale’s Multidisciplinary Academic Program in Human Rights Studies in 2014.

Research emphasizes postnational constitutionalism, temporal dimensions of law, and border externalization ethics. His book Postnational Constitutionalism: Europe and the Time of Law (2023) reimagines constitutional law in European integration. Current projects examine Global North border policies and their human rights implications.

Professional service includes roles as a Schell Center Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and Emile Noël Global Fellow at NYU’s Jean Monnet Center. His scholarship appears in top journals like International Journal of Constitutional Law and German Law Journal.

Labs/Teams: Active in the Buffalo Human Rights Center, fostering interdisciplinary human rights research. Advises on EU legal frameworks and refugee law through collaborative academic initiatives.