Juan Fernando López Aguilar (born 10 June 1961) is a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 Socialist Workers' Party

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...

 politician, and former Minister of Justice in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...

. He also represented Las Palmas

Las Palmas (Spanish Congress Electoral District)

Las Palmas is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It was first contested in modern times in the 1977 General Election and covers the Eastern part of the Canary Islands...

 in the congress between 2000 and 2004.

López Aguilar was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria commonly known as Las Palmas is the political capital, jointly with Santa Cruz, the most populous city in the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the ninth largest city in Spain, with a population of 383,308 in 2010. Nearly half of the people of the island...

. He holds a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Bologna

University of Bologna

The Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna is the oldest continually operating university in the world, the word 'universitas' being first used by this institution at its foundation. The true date of its founding is uncertain, but believed by most accounts to have been 1088...

 (Italy) and for a long time he has been a Professor of Constitutional Law

Constitutional law

Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....

 at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He also holds a Master's Degree in Law and Diplomacy from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University is the oldest school in the United States dedicated solely to graduate studies in international affairs. It is regarded as one of the world's foremost schools of international affairs. Every Fall, the school enrolls approximately 265...

.

In November 2006, he was chosen as the socialist candidate for the Presidency of the Canary Islands

Canary Islands

The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...

 Government. Currently he is a Member of the European Parliament

Member of the European Parliament

A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

and is chair of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.