EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrines into primary EU law a wide array of fundamental rights enjoyed by EU citizens and residents. It became legally binding with the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009.

This section of the website encompasses Charterpedia, an online tool which provides easy-to-access information about the Charter and its provisions. For each Charter Article, it includes the official explanations of the Charter Articles, related European and national case law, and related provisions in national constitutional law as well as in international law. It also contains references to academic analysis and related FRA publications.

The original compilation was created by the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee. Since 2009 it has been maintained and continuously expanded by the FRA.

The European and national case law is also accessible via the Case-Law Database.

Case-Law Database

Our new e-learning tool Charter e-guidance assists judges and other legal practitioners on the field of application of the Charter as laid down in Article 51.