The Horizontal Effect of the Charter: Towards an Understanding of Horizontality as a Structural Constitutional Principle?

Frantziou, E.

Abstract

This article analyses the main debates over the application of the Charter to disputes between private parties and assesses the ways in which the case law over the last ten years has responded to them. The article goes on to propose an alternative schema, whereby horizontality can be understood as a structural principle of EU fundamental rights adjudication on its own terms, rather than as an extension of the direct effect doctrine. It is argued that a self-standing principle of horizontality with equally valuable – yet operationally distinct – direct, indirect, and state-mediated manifestations, could respond more coherently to the conceptual, procedural, and remedial challenges displayed in the case law.

Citation

Frantziou, E. (2020). The Horizontal Effect of the Charter: Towards an Understanding of Horizontality as a Structural Constitutional Principle?. The Cambridge yearbook of European legal studies, 22, 208-232. https://doi.org/10.1017/cel.2020.7

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 8, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Nov 6, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020
• Deposit Date: Aug 20, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 21, 2020
• Journal: The Cambridge yearbook of European legal studies.
• Print ISSN: 2049-7636
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Pages: 208-232
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/cel.2020.7
• Keywords: Charter, fundamental rights, horizontal effect, direct effect, consistent interpretation, state liability, Drittwirkung
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1294191