Education CV
Current Research
Tom's research focusses on the concept of essence of rights in EU Law and its links with the founding values and EU Citizenship. His Dissertation analyses the origins and theoretical underpinnings of the concept of essence in EU law to develop a framework of understanding for the use of the concept in EU Law. Using this as the foundation, Tom's work discusses the implications of the essence of rights for current and future CJEU case law in the field of EU Citizenship and Constitutional Law, as well as its implications for further EU Integration in these fields.
Education and Professional Background
Tom is a legal secreatry at the Commission on EU Law of the Dutch Council of State. He previously completed a traineeship in the Chambers of Judge Bernd Hammerman at the EFTA Court. Before commencing his Ph.D., Tom obtained his LL.M. at the University of Cambridge and was awarded an E.M. Burnett prize for a first in law (2018). He also holds a LL.B. (cum laude) in European Law from the University of Maastricht (2017). Tom previously supervised the Tripos Paper in EU Law at Pembroke and Newnham College (2019-2021) and worked at the University of Maastricht as a teaching assistant during his undergraduate studies. Tom was the Editor-in-Chief of the Cambridge International Law Journal during the academic year 2020-2021 and a Contributor to the EUI Global Citizenship Observatory (2017-2019). He is the former President of the Hughes Hall Law Society (2019-2020).
Scholarships and Awards
- Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Partnership Studentship (2018)
- Cambridge Vice Chancellor's Scholarship (2018)
- E.M. Burnett Prize for a First in the Cambridge LL.M. Programme (2018)
Fields of research
- Constitutional EU Law and EU Citizenship
- Fundamental rights
- Constitutional theory and theory of rights
The Interpretation and Application of the Essence of Rights in the EU Legal Order
Summary
Tom's Dissertation analyses the interpretation and application of the concept of essence (Article 52(1) CFREU) in EU law as a limit to the limitation of fundamental rights by reference to legal theory and an extensive review of the CJEU's case law on the concept since 1954. It evaluated the CJEU's current approach, proposes a clear test for establishing violations of the essence of rights, and discusses the significance of essence as an integral part of the EU’s legal order in relation to the EU's founding values in Article 2 TEU.
Supervisors
Prof Kenneth Armstrong
Representative Publications
2022: TL Boekestein, ‘Making do with what we have: On the Interpretation and Enforcement of the EU’s Founding Values’ (2022) 23(4) German Law Journal (forthcoming, preliminarily available on SSRN).
2020: TL Boekestein and GR de Groot, ‘Discussing the human rights limits on loss of citizenship: a normative-legal perspective on egalitarian arguments regarding Dutch Nationality laws targeting Dutch-Moroccans’ in É Fargues, E Winter and MJ Gibney (eds), When states take rights back: citizenship revocation and its discontents (Routledge 2020).
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