Diana Dajnowicz-Piesiecka
Assistant Professor (Adiunkt)
University of Bialystok, Faculty of Law, Department of Criminal Law and Criminology
Dr Diana Dajnowicz-Piesiecka is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Bialystok (Poland), specializing in criminal law, criminology, and animal protection law. Her academic and research work is primarily devoted to the criminal law protection of animals, with particular emphasis on combating animal abuse and strengthening legal responses to crimes against animals.
She is the principal investigator of the nationally funded research project In Defense of the Defenceless: Criminal Law Protection of Animals in the Context of Changing Social Perceptions (project no. NdS/536259/2021/2021), supported by the Polish Ministry of Education and Science. The project examines the adequacy and effectiveness of existing criminal law mechanisms for animal protection and proposes legal reforms aimed at improving enforcement and ensuring more effective justice for animal victims.
Since 2024, Dr Dajnowicz-Piesiecka has also been a participant in the international interdisciplinary COST Action An Evolutionary View to Understanding Affective States across Species (AFFECT-EVO) (CA23106), which integrates legal, ethical, and scientific perspectives on animal welfare and affective states across species. This work reflects her strong commitment to bridging legal scholarship with contemporary scientific insights into animal sentience and welfare.
She has authored and co-authored scholarly publications on animal protection law and criminal liability for crimes against animals, and regularly presents her research at national and international conferences. Through her academic work, she actively contributes to the development of animal law as a distinct and evolving legal field and supports initiatives aimed at enhancing legal protection for animals at both national and international levels.
E-mail: d.dajnowicz-piesiecka@uwb.edu.pl