  The tau lepton lifetime is measured with the L3 detector at LEP using the
complete data taken at centre-of-mass energies around the Z pole resulting in
tau_tau = 293.2 +/- 2.0 (stat) +/- 1.5 (syst) fs. The comparison of this result
with the muon lifetime supports lepton universality of the weak charged current
at the level of six per mille. Assuming lepton universality, the value of the
strong coupling constant, alpha_s is found to be alpha_s(m_tau^2) = 0.319 +/-
0.015(exp.) +/- 0.014 (theory).
