Human rights can be defined as universal rights fundamental in nature that belong to every person in his or her relationship with the state. The development of human rights was divided into three generations of human rights and freedoms. The most important source of human rights in the Republic of Croatia, which is a member of the European Union, is the Republic of Croatia. Human rights in the European Union are indivisible and universal. In the beginnings of the European Union, the awareness of the need to protect human rights was not sufficiently developed because it was an organization of an economic nature, and it is also believed that such rights will be taken care of by the Council of Europe. With the expansion of EU competencies, there was a need for additional regulation and protection of human rights, so in 2009, the Lisbon Treaty made accession to the European Convention on Human Rights mandatory. The European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights is a mechanism for external supervision over the protection of human rights in the EU, in parallel with which a mechanism for internal supervision over the protection of human rights has been established through the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg has jurisdiction to interpret and apply the Charter. The European Ombudsman is a human rights institution that points out the problems of human rights violations in the European Union by public administration bodies. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights is an instrument of protection and the EU's center of expertise in the field of fundamental rights.