Ninon Colneric

Ninon Colneric
Judge of the European Court of Justice
In office 2000–2006
Personal details
Born	(1948-08-29) 29 August 1948 (age 77) Oer-Erkenschwick, Germany
Alma mater	Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Occupation	Judge, legal scholar
Known for	First female German judge at the ECJ

Ninon Colneric (b. 29 August 1948, Oer-Erkenschwick) ^[1] is the first female German judge at the European Court of Justice (2000-2006). ^{[2] [3]} Before joining the ECJ, she served as President of the Landesarbeitsgericht Schleswig-Holstein and worked extensively on European and international labour-law reform projects.

Education

Colneric graduated from the Municipal Modern Language Girls' Grammar School in Datteln in 1967. In 1967/1968, she studied German language and literature and philosophy at the University of Tübingen with the aim of becoming a teacher. ^{[4] [5]}

In 1972, she passed her first state law examination at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich with a grade of "good". ^{[4] [6]}

In 1973 and 1974, she conducted research for her dissertation in Great Britain and was a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics. ^[4]

From March 1974, she completed her legal clerkship in Bavaria and was a research assistant at the Institute for European and International Economic Law at the Ludwig Maximilian University in 1974/1975. In 1976, she passed her second state law examination in Munich, receiving a grade of "fully satisfactory". ^{[4] [6]}

She studied legal science in Tübingen, Munich and Geneva. In 1977, she received her doctorate with summa cum laude honours. In 1978, she was awarded the Faculty Prize by the University of Munich for her dissertation. ^[6] As a student and doctoral candidate, Colneric received funding from the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. ^[4]

She was authorised, by the University of Bremen, to teach labour law, sociology of law and social law.

Career

She was professor ad interim at the faculty of law of the universities of Frankfurt, and Bremen. She was a judge at the Labour Court (Arbeitsgericht) Oldenburg (1986-1989). She was president of the Landesarbeitsgericht Schleswig-Holstein (1989-2000). She collaborated, as an expert, on the European Expertise Service (European Union) project for the reform of the labour law of Kirghizstan (1994 to 1995). She was an honorary Professor at the University of Bremen in labour law, specifically in European labour law. ^[7]

From 2000 until 2006 she was the first female German judge at the European Court of Justice. ^[5] From 2008 until 2011 she became Co-Dean at the China-EU School of Law, a cooperative project between a consortium of European universities and the China University of Political Science and Law. ^[8]

Since 2018 she is member of the Whistleblower-Netzwerk e.V., and since 2020 a member of the advisory board of the Institute for Secular Law. ^[6]

See also

• List of members of the European Court of Justice

References

1. Kistenfeger, Hartmut; Meck, Georg (11 September 2000). "Im Zweifel links". Focus (in German). Retrieved 11 December 2025.
2. Dagmar Schiek. "Ninon Colneric: Richterin am EuGH" [Ninon Colneric: Judge at ECJ](PDF) (in German). p. 188. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
3. Dagmar Schiek (7 June 2006). "'SPD opfert eine Richterin für Angela Merkel" [Ninon Colneric: Judge at ECJ]. Die Tageszeitung (taz.de) (in German). p. 188. Retrieved 2010-05-23.
4. "Ernennung beim Gerichtshof". Consilium.europa.eu (in German). 26 June 2000. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
5. Pointner, Alicia (22 September 2018). "Prof. Dr. Ninon Colneric im Porträt". Breaking Through (in German). Heidelberg. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
6. "Prof. Dr. Ninon Colneric | ifw - Institut für Weltanschauungsrecht". weltanschauungsrecht.de. Retrieved 2021-05-23.
7. University of Bremen, Webpage.
8. Die Entwicklungshelferin. FAZ, 8. März 2010.