Using the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights Against Private Parties after Association De Médiation Sociale

Cian C. Murphy 

King's College London – The Dickson Poon School of Law 
February 24, 2014

European Human Rights Law Review, 2014 Forthcoming 
Abstract:      

The judgment in Association de Médiation Sociale gave the Court of Justice the opportunity to revisit its decision in Kücükdeveci on the effect of the EU Charter. In its short judgment the Court declines to follow the complex reasoning of Advocate General Cruz Villalón in his Opinion in the case and leaves the law on the effect of the EU Charter in disputes between private parties rather unclear. The analysis herein explores the Court of Justice judgment in its wider legal context, taking in the Court’s affirmation of the rule against horizontal direct effect, the distinction of Kücükdeveci, and the question of rights and principles in the Charter. It concludes with some thoughts on how litigants in disputes between private parties might best frame their claims on the basis of the Charter and on current challenges for the European Union and the Court of Justice in this evolving field of law.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 12

Keywords: human rights, EU law, horizontal direct effect, Court of Justice of the European Union

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2400491