ABSTRACT
The horizontal application of human rights, also known by the German word Drittwirkung, describes the application of human rights provisions in the private sphere. In other words, human rights are applied horizontally between private individuals and not only vertically (as originally conceived) to relations between the state and the individual citizen. By contrast, in litigation against the state, its bodies or agents, private individuals appear inherently weaker; their rights will thus be applied vertically, in order to protect them against encroachment from a much more powerful party.
