Meet FPCD's new Sub-Saharan Africa Legal Analyst, Joseph Stefanelli

Joseph Stefanelli earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors (cum laude) in Political Science from Monmouth University in May 2005. He was honored with being elected President of the local chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honor Society, as well as being a founding member of the local chapter of the Omicron Delta Kappa Elite National Leadership Honor society. Joe was also elected Chief Justice for the inaugural term of the Greek Judicial Board after working closely with school officials and general counsel to write and implement the constitution for Monmouth University's first student-run judicial board.

Joe is currently pursuing his Juris Doctor degree from The Seton Hall University School of Law , and anticipates graduation in December 2009. He also plans to finalize his Master of Arts Thesis by December 2009, completing his studies (magna cum laude) in Corporate and Public Communication from Monmouth University.

Joseph has focused his legal studies on international and comparative law, studying Comparative Employment Law and Comparative Constitutional Law in Parma, Italy in the summer of 2007 as well as Human Trafficking and Modern Day Slavery in Zanzibar and Arusha, Tanzania in December 2007.

Since visiting the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) while studying in Arusha, Joe has further focused his international law studies on rule of law in post-conflict developing nations, especially post-genocide Rwanda. During the spring of 2008 he authored a paper entitled "Detention in Rwandan Gacaca Courts: is insistence on post-Genocide retributive justice frustrating long-term rule of law objectives?"

Joe also spent spring 2008 as a Research Fellow at the Seton Hall Law Center for Policy and Advocacy, where he worked with Seton Hall faculty and students to debunk handwriting analysis expert testimony, uncovering the true inconsistent nature and lack of accountability of a so-called ‘forensic science.’

In the summer of 2008, Joe worked at the Forced Migration Refugee Centre (FMRC) in Cairo, Egypt working under the world’s leading Refugee Studies Professor, Dr. Barbara Harrell-Bond, OBE, as a legal consultant. In his work at the FMRC he provided legal aid for Iraqi refugees applying for asylum in the US and other countries.

Joe is currently a legal intern at the ICTR in Arusha, Tanzania where he continues his research regarding the Rwandan court systems and rule of law in Sub-Saharan Africa.