Lore Maria Peschel-Gutzeit

Lore Maria Peschel-Gutzeit, born in Hamburg in 1932, is a German jurist and former judge and senator for justice. She began her judicial career in Hamburg in 1960, later becoming a family judge and, in 1984, the first presiding judge of the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court. From 1991 to 2001, she served as senator for justice in Hamburg and Berlin. The “Lex Peschel,” which she initiated, came into force in 1968 and enabled female civil servants to work part-time or take family leave for family reasons. She also chaired the German Women Lawyers’ Association and served on the Constitutional Commission. In 2004, she received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and was named an honorary elder of the city of Berlin.