Private Law Theory

ABSTRACT
This Chapter examines the role of fundamental rights (or human rights) in private law disputes on climate-related issues, focusing on the horizontal effect of such rights in general private law, particularly tort law. The central question is: how and to what extent can and should fundamental rights enshrined in national constitutions and international instruments influence private law in climate change cases? The Chapter explores the link between fundamental rights and climate change and draws on the well-established concepts of direct and indirect horizontal effect to assess the legal implications of each for the relationship between fundamental rights law and private law in the climate change litigation context. The analysis shows that the horizontal effect of fundamental rights presents both challenges and opportunities for efforts to combat climate change, and that the extent of such effect matters.

Cherednychenko, Olha O and de Bruin, Boudewijn, Horizontal Effect of Fundamental Rights (October 14, 2025) in D Kysar and E Lim (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Climate Change and Private Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026, forthcoming).