Abstract

Given that the distinction between public and private law has been declared dead for so long, some of its implications prove astonishingly long-lived. Recent developments such as the assumption of human rights obligations for corporations or the challenged position of intermediary forces in the face of an increasing societal plurality call us to think these implications through and turn to their origin: Historically as well as theoretically, the primary function of human rights in Europe was a social one, directed at the abolition of intermediary forces, and providing the basis for a horizontal structure amongst equal subjects. In consequence, we can think the doctrine of “horizontal effect” anew and ask what this insight means for the challenges and conceptualization of human rights today.