Fundamental rights at the heart of policing

Law enforcement authorities, Europol experts, academia, Executive Directors and many other high-level speakers gathered for the first-of-its-kind conference on fundamental rights at the core of police work. By placing fundamental rights at the centre of policing and law enforcement actions, this conference explored how fundamental rights can have a real, constructive impact on law enforcement standards and practices. We explored how fundamental rights can improve operational responses and reinforce the overall accountability of police and law enforcement authorities.

The conference focused on two main themes revolving around:

• Fundamental rights as an approach to law enforcement; combatting racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and islamophobia.
• Fundamental rights in the digital policing sphere; the role of technology and AI.

Initiatives taken both inside and outside law enforcement organisations were discussed during the conference, to emphasise law enforcements’ respect for fundamental rights. We heard concrete experiences from national law enforcement authorities, best practice examples from civil society actors and training institutions, and interviewed the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Director, Sirpa Rautio, about promoting fundamental rights.

The conference featured dynamic debates and presentations by experienced law enforcement specialists and independent organisations, as well as key note speeches by Europol’s Executive Director, Catherine De Bolle, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s Director, Sirpa Rautio, and Frontex’s Director, Hans Leijtens.