Judging the Charter

The Charter in judicial practise with a special focus on the case of protection of refugees and asylum seekers

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The Charter in a nutshell - Horizontal Rights

Do individuals have a right to invoke Charter's rights in horizontal situations (a private party against another private party)?

Yes, every citizen of the EU may use the Charter in horizontal situations, but only if the other party is also an EU citizen.
No, in principle individual, private parties are not directly bound by the Charter. Charter is binding for national and EU institutions. The CJEU clearly stated in Dominguez that “It is true that the Court has consistently held that a directive cannot of itself impose obligations on an individual and cannot therefore be relied on as such against an individual.”
In principle no, the Charter is binding for both EU institutions and national organs when implementing or applying EU law and private parties are not directly bound. In practice however, due to the judicial activism of the CJEU, the right of a private party to rely directly on Union law against another private party in a national court is of increasing significance.

Due to the judicial activism of the CJEU the right of a private party to rely directly on Union law against another private party in a national court is of increasing significance.

Sonya Walkila in her study Horizontal Effect of Fundamental Rights in EU Law (2016, Europa Law Publishing) argues, that ‘The frequent horizontal effect of fundamental rights in recent case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union is an indication of a stronger presence and the increased significance of fundamental rights in the Union’s legal order at the time when the boundaries between the public and private spheres are increasingly blurred. The Court of Justice strives to interpret and apply the law in a way, which contributes to a build-up of a coherent case law and conforms to fundamental rights as closely as possible. [...] the horizontal effect of fundamental rights contributes to the primacy, unity and effectiveness of European Union law.’

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