The Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) is a committee of the European Parliament that is responsible for protecting

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

and human rights, as listed in the

Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFR) enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union (EU) citizens and residents into EU law. It was drafted by the European Convention and solemnly procla ...

. Its current chair, elected on 10 July 2019, is

Juan Fernando López Aguilar Juan Fernando López Aguilar (born 10 June 1961) is a Spanish jurist and politician of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) who has been serving as a member of the European Parliament since 2009. He served as Minister of Justice in the gov ...

, member of the S&D political group.

Responsibilities

Specifically, the committee deals with

data protection Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data p ...

issues; asylum, migration, and "integrated management of the common borders"; and the EU approach to criminal law", including police and judicial cooperation and terrorism, all while ensuring that the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality are respected. Additionally, it oversees several

agencies of the European Union The agencies of the European Union (formally: ''Agencies, decentralised independent bodies, corporate bodies and joint undertakings of the European Union and the Euratom'') are bodies of the European Union and the Euratom established as juridica ...

, including the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Europol,

Eurojust Eurojust is an agency of the European Union (EU) dealing with judicial co-operation in criminal matters among agencies of the member states. It is seated in The Hague, Netherlands. Established in 2002, it was created to improve handling of ser ...

, the

European Police College CEPOL, or the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training, is an agency of the European Union dedicated to training law enforcement officials. The institution was founded in 2000 and adopted its current legal mandate on 1 July 2016. It i ...

(Cepol), the European Public Prosecutor’s Office and other such agencies. However, its purview does not include gender-based discrimination, which is overseen by the

Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality The Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) is a committee of the European Parliament. Membership Chair Vice Chairs *Eugenia Rodríguez Palop * Sylwia Spurek * Elissavet Vozemberg-Vrionidi *Robert Biedroń Members *Regina Bastos ...

, and employment discrimination, which is overseen by the

Committee on Employment and Social Affairs The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) is a committee of the European Parliament. It is responsible for issues of employment and social policy, including labour rights, social security, inclusion, free movement for workers and pensio ...

Controversy

Udo Voigt Udo Voigt (; born 14 April 1952) is a German politician and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the far-right and Neo-Nazi party National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) between 2014 and 2019. He was a member of the European Parl ...

, the former leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) who has praised

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

, joined the committee as a non-attached member in July 2014, sparking outrage from European Parliament President Martin Schulz, the European Jewish Congress, and the

European Network Against Racism The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) is an EU-wide network of anti-racist NGOs. ENAR aims to end structural racism and discrimination and advocates for equality and solidarity for all in Europe. It connects local and national anti-racist ...

, among others. Jan Philipp Albrecht, a German Green Party member and vice chair of the committee, expressed doubt about Voigt's ability to significantly influence the legislative process, but he did concede that "his presence could lead the public to question the European Parliament".

References

External links

Official webpage
Civil Human rights organisations based in Belgium {{EU-stub

Responsibilities

Controversy

See also

References

External links