Dr. Kristof Gombeer is a lecturer and researcher at the Europa Institute, Leiden University. He works at the intersection of European Union law and public international law, with a particular focus on maritime security and human rights.

More information about Kristof Gombeer

Research

Kristof’s research agenda consists of three main strands:

1) The conditions for human rights obligations to arise vis-à-vis individuals in cross-border and extraterritorial contexts. This strand of research has both a theoretical and doctrinal limb and asks what justifies that certain (type of) actors can be identified as duty-bearers in relation to certain rights-holders abroad.

2) The externalisation of immigration and border control by the European Union and its Member States. Here, the focus lies on the extent to which states have been stratifying and strengthening their grip on the movement of people towards Europe while simultaneously trying to evade legal responsibility for the protection of vulnerable categories of persons affected in the process. Kristof has particularly been analysing the predicament of persons on the move whose lives are endangered at the external sea borders of the European Union.

3) The emerging concept of maritime safety and security of the European Union and its Member States. This third and most recent strand of research inquires a) the methods and technologies through which states seek to establish power at sea, b) the emerging legal architecture to accommodate for such extensions of power at sea, and, in response to these trends, c) the availability of legal remedies regarding vulnerable individuals and common interests and values affected in the process, including through human rights law.

Teaching

Kristof teaches in the Bachelor’s course ‘Inleiding Europees recht’ and coordinates the LLM course ‘Interaction between Legal Systems’ – Globalizing law: legal reasoning in International, EU and national law’. He also supervises Bachelor and LLM theses in European Union law and human rights law. Previously, Kristof taught ‘Introduction to International Legal Theory and History’ at the Brussels School of Governance.

Professional background

Kristof regularly presents his research to peers and practitioners, relates expert advice to governmental and non-governmental organizations, and occasionally provides context to news items for the wider public in areas of his expertise. He is an active member of various international networks, including the ‘Scientific Research Network on Extraterritorial Human Rights Obligations’ (Research Foundation, Flanders). From 2016 to 2020, Kristof was co-chair of the Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law of the European Society of International Law.

Kristof holds a PhD from the Universities of Leiden and Brussels (2022), for which he received a 4-year Fellowship from the Research Foundation, Flanders (FWO). He graduated in law (Free University of Brussels, 2011), political science (Free University of Brussels, 2012), and philosophy (KU Leuven, 2012) and obtained advanced master’s degrees in International Relations Theory (London School of Economics, 2013) and International Legal Studies (New York University, 2014).