Carl Otto Lenz (born 5 June 1930 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

) is a German lawyer, member of the German

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...

(1965–1984) for the CDU and Advocate General at the European Court of Justice (1984–1997).

Biography

Carl Otto Lenz is the son of the lawyer Otto Lenz (Secretary of the Federal Chancellery 1951–1953, member of the German Bundestag 1953-1957) and Marie Liese Pohl. In 1948, he graduated from high school in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. From 1949 to 1953, he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

at the

Ludwig-Maximilians University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

in Munich, the Albert-Ludwigs University of

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

, the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centur ...

(Switzerland) and the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

. In Freiburg, he was a member of the Catholic Student Fraternity KDSt.V. Arminia Freiburg im Breisgau im CV. Lenz later studied at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

in Ithaca, New York, the College of Administrative Sciences Speyer and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in Cambridge (Massachusetts). From 1961, he taught at the

. In 1959 he became Secretary of the Christian Democratic Group of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in Luxembourg; From 1965 to 1984 he was a member of the German Bundestag, representing Bergstraße. For many years he was a member of the Legal Affairs Committee, and he was its chairman from 1969 to 1980. Lenz is especially committed to Franco-German friendship; he was a member of the Franco-German Parliamentary Group and its chairman from 1969 to 1983. From 1984 to 1997, Lenz was Advocate General at the European Court of Justice. During this time, he drafted about 400 submissions to the Court of Justice. Lenz is also editor of a handbook and the author of numerous works concerning EC law. Since 1998 he has been a lawyer in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Awards and honors

* 1976: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany * 1980:

Officer of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

* 1983: Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic * 1987: Bearer of the Hans-Dahs Medal of the German Bar Association * 1990: Honorary Professor of the Department of European Law at the University of the Saarland * 1998: Bearer of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenz, Carl Otto 1930 births Living people Jurists from Berlin Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Cornell University alumni Harvard University alumni Advocates General of the European Court of Justice Academic staff of the University of Bonn Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Grand Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg German officials of the European Union

Biography

Awards and honors

See also

References