Dr. Maria Karamanof, Emeritus Vice President, Council of State, Greece
Dr. Maria Karamanof is a distinguished Greek jurist and prominent environmental advocate who served as the Vice President of the Council of State, Greece’s Supreme Administrative and Constitutional Court. After graduating from the Law School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, she pursued advanced legal studies at University College London (UCL), where she earned her PhD focusing on the failures in implementing legislative reforms.
She began her judicial career at the Council of State in 1981 and spent decades shaping foundational legal precedents. During her influential tenure in the court’s 5th Chamber between 1990 and 2000, she played a pivotal role in establishing Greece’s progressive jurisprudence on environmental protection, sustainable development, and public domain limits. In addition to her domestic judicial work, she represented Greece at major international legal forums, including the UN Global Judges Symposium on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, and collaborated with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to lead specialized legal seminars.
Beyond her judicial career, Dr. Karamanof has taught Law and Public Policy Analysis at the Hellenic National Center of Public Administration and authored notable works on sustainable state development and public domain limits. Currently, she serves as Vice President Emerita of the Council of State and is the active President of the Chamber for Environment and Sustainability, continuing her work in environmental protection.
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