The European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) has appointed Prof. Dr Nella Sayatz as Assistant Professor of International and European Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law as of 1 April. The specialist in international criminal law most recently completed her doctorate at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and her legal clerkship at the Berlin Court of Appeal.
In addition to the freedom gained through the professorship to realise her academic projects, Nella Sayatz is particularly looking forward to her teaching projects at the Viadrina. With innovative methods and a focus on good basic training, she wants to offer students at the European University the best possible preparation for the state examination. "I aim to provide such good exam preparation at the university that students can do without commercial revision courses with a clear conscience," says Nella Sayatz.
For her doctoral thesis "Eigentumsschutz im Völkerstrafrecht. With special consideration of the German Code of Crimes against International Law", Nella Sayatz looked at around 20 cases of returned IS women who were also convicted in Germany for living in houses and flats in Syria from which the population had been displaced. "It's about war crimes involving the appropriation of property and looting," explains Nella Sayatz. In her work, she discusses whether it is justified to prosecute the women who joined IS as war criminals and terrorists. Her work was awarded the doctoral prize of the Faculty of Law at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin in 2025.
For a detailed presentation of Prof. Dr Nella Sayatz
From the summer semester 2026, Prof. Dr Jelena von Achenbach will also be teaching at the Faculty of Law at Europa-Universität Viadrina. She was already appointed Professor of Public Law, in particular European Law, in October 2025.
To the introduction of Prof Dr Jelena von Achenbach