Carl Otto Lenz is a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

, member of the German Bundestag

Bundestag

The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...

 (1965–1984) for the CDU

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

 and Advocate General

Advocate General

An Advocate General is a senior law officer of a country or other jurisdiction, usually charged with advising the courts or Government on legal matters.-India:In India, an Advocate General is a legal adviser to a state government...

 at the European Court of Justice

European Court of Justice

The Court can sit in plenary session, as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, or in chambers of three or five judges. Plenary sitting are now very rare, and the court mostly sits in chambers of three or five judges...

 (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

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

. From 1949 to 1953, he studied law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 and political science

Political science

Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

 at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg

Freiburg

Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...

, the University of Geneva

University of Geneva

The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...

 (Switzerland) and the University of Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

. 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

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

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

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

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

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

.

In 1959 he became Secretary of the Christian Democratic Group of the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 in Luxembourg; From 1965 to 1984 he was member of the German Bundestag. 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

Advocate General

An Advocate General is a senior law officer of a country or other jurisdiction, usually charged with advising the courts or Government on legal matters.-India:In India, an Advocate General is a legal adviser to a state government...

 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

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

 and Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

.

Awards and honors

• 1976: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 1980: Officer of the Legion of Honor
• 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