Prof. Dr. Lerke Osterloh is one of two women currently serving on the Second
Senat of the
Bundesverfassungsgericht,
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court. She was born 29 September 1944 in
Holle (
Oldenburg).
After being admitted to the practise of law in 1975, she worked from 1972-78 as a
research assistant at the
Hamburg University's
seminar for
finance and tax law, and has held predominantly
academic positions since then, including
professorships at the University of
Berlin,
Heidelberg,
Trier (
Public Law and
Tax Law), and
Frankfurt (Public Law and Tax Law).
She has served on the Federal Constitutional Court since October 1998.
She received her doctorate in 1978 based on a
dissertation on
compensation for
property loss in civil and
public law (
Das Prinzip der Eigentumsopferentschädigung im Zivilrecht und im öffentlichen Recht). In order to receive her full professorship (
Habilitation), she authored a work on the limits of
discretion in the
application of tax laws. (
Gesetzesbindung und Typisierungsspielräume bei der Anwendung der Steuergesetze)