Katrin Rieke: New President of the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court!

Katrin Rieke: New President of the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court!

At the beginning of 2026, there is news in the Lower Saxony judiciary that will provide a breath of fresh air: Katrin Rieke has been the new President of the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court since January 1st. She succeeds Wolfgang Scheibel, who went into his well-deserved retirement on December 31, 2025. The official announcement of her appointment was made in a press release from the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court, in which Rieke expressed her joy about the challenges ahead. An important aspect of her new role will be getting to know her new colleagues, which she considers essential for her future work, reports regional today.

Rieke's career in the judiciary began in 2000 and she has since made a name for herself in several positions. Among other things, she was a judge at the Hanover Regional Court, a research assistant at the Federal Court of Justice and a judge and later presiding judge at the Celle Higher Regional Court. She also held various senior positions in the Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice, where she was responsible for human resources, budget and organization as well as civil and public law. Before moving to Braunschweig, she was President of the Lower Saxony State Social Court in Celle, a position she has held since September 2022. Her move to the Higher Regional Court is not least for private reasons and because she is part of the ordinary jurisdiction, he adds Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court.

Challenges and successes in the justice system

During her term at the State Social Court, Rieke made significant progress in the digitalization of the specialist courts. The conversion of the Lower Saxony social courts to electronic court files was a milestone that was completed in April 2024 with the Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court as the last social court. From February 2025, the e-file will be legally binding at all social courts in Lower Saxony, which means that documents no longer need to be printed out. This is not only a technical simplification, but also a step towards a more sustainable justice system, as Rieke emphasizes.

As part of her work, she has also addressed the challenges of workforce reductions in the jurisdiction. Her successor at the Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court, Lioba Huss, will initially manage the business while the presidential position is being advertised, which for Rieke represents another chapter in the change in the judiciary.

Digitalization as a future-oriented topic

The focus on digital solutions is a central concern of the judiciary in Germany. The E-Justice Council, which adopted a comprehensive digital strategy in 2025, aims to better integrate citizens and companies into the justice process through digital submission and processing of applications. The aim is to optimize internal work processes through digital technologies and artificial intelligence. Here, the judiciary is pursuing uniform solutions across the country in order to promote modernization and create a citizen-oriented judiciary, as shown on brak.de is reported.

As the new President of the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court, Katrin Rieke has the opportunity not only to build on these developments, but also to set her own course. This puts her at the head of an institution that has to master not only legal but also social challenges. We can't wait to see what innovations and changes it will bring to the Lower Saxony judiciary.