Prof Tobias Lock

    Law, Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law and Fundamental Rights, Centre for European and Eurasian Studies

    Professor

    New House
    204
    (01) 4747271

    Biography

    Tobias Lock joined the Department of Law in January 2019 as a Professor of Law.  In 2020 he was awarded a Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law and Fundamental Rights through the European Union's Erasmus+ programme. Tobias' previous places of work include Edinburgh Law School, where he was a Senior Lecturer in EU Law and co-director of the Europa Institute, University College London, the University of Surrey and the University of Erlangen (Germany), where he received most of his legal education.

    Tobias’ research and teaching interests are in European law and human rights 
    law. He is mainly interested in the interaction between different legal orders. Recently, he has focused much of his attention on the legal questions raised by Brexit. He has given evidence to numerous parliamentary committees in the UK and written commissioned reports for the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. He is an advisor on EU constitutional law to the Scottish Parliament's Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee. From 2019-2020 he served in a similar role to that committee's predecessor.

    Tobias retains a keen interest in the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights. 

    In 2018 he was awarded a British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award. During 2018 he also served as a member of the Scottish First Minister's Advisory Group on Human Rights Leadership. He is a board member of the Irish Centre for European Law.





    Research Interests

    Tobias’ research interest lies broadly speaking in the EU’s multilevel relations with other legal orders. His main focus is on courts as frontline actors in this plural legal environment. He has published two books on the relations between the European Court of Justice and international courts and has done much work on the relationship between the EU and the European Convention on Human Rights, in particular the EU’s accession to the Convention.

    Tobias' research in this regard has recently been dominated by the many legal questions surrounding 'Brexit'.

    Brexit notwithstanding, Tobias retains a keen interest in EU fundamental rights law and in particular the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

    Tobias has also published on the application of European law and legal remedies by national courts in different Member States with a particular focus on the UK and Germany. This allows him to combine his interest in comparative law with that in European law. As part of this research he published an article on Member State liability in the national courts and another article addressing the differences in the application of the law on belief discrimination in England and Germany.  His other other research interests include EU constitutional law; (comparative) German constitutional law, and law and religion.

    Much of his work is accessible on his SSRN page.

    Tobias welcomes enquiries from potential students interested in undertaking research degrees in any of these fields.




    Research Projects

    Title Role Description Start date End date Amount
    Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law and Fundamental Rights PI The Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law and Fundamental Rights aims to make Maynooth a centre of excellence for the study and research of EU law by embedding EU law teaching and research at the Law Department. The project centres on an ambitious teaching and research programme in EU law focusing on EU fundamental rights law offered to diverse audiences. The Chair will provide specialist teaching in EU law and offer a suite of advanced EU law modules, all of which place a strong emphasis on EU fundamental rights. These modules will form the backbone of a new EU law specialism at Maynooth (students will graduate with an LLB in EU Law). Students will benefit from many additional activities: annual Sakharov Prize debates; annual study visits to the EU institutions; two visitors’ programmes, which will expose students to cutting-edge research presented by visiting scholars and to topical practical insights by visiting practitioners. The Chair will also organise a new EU Law Discussion Group at the Law Department fostering a strong EU law-focused research culture at the Department. The teaching offering will inform and be informed by a research project on EU Fundamental Rights Law, which will result in the publication of a monograph, a journal article, conference papers, blog posts, media contributions and OER. The research project will be the basis of the Chair’s outreach activities: an annual ‘EU Fundamental Rights Update’ workshop (CPD accredited) for practising lawyers and civil society organisations enabling a two-way knowledge exchange. Furthermore, the Chair will organise an annual lecture by an eminent EU lawyer – open to all – and two types of events aimed at the general public: school visits in the University’s locality (Greater Dublin); a series of events on EU human rights law at local libraries (‘Communiversity’). The new LLB specialism, the discussion group, the research outputs, the OER and other materials on the website will ensure a lasting legacy. 01/09/2020 31/08/2023 40867.2
    Tender: interaction Charter and NI Protocol PI The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is seeking to contract research on the interaction between the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 2 of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol. 31/01/2023 30/06/2023 8763.35

    Book

    Year Publication
    2015 Tobias Lock (2015) The European Court of Justice and International Courts. Oxford: 2015.
    2010 Tobias Lock (2010) Das Verhältnis zwischen dem EuGH und internationalen Gerichten. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

    Peer Reviewed Journal

    Year Publication
    2025 Lock, T. (2025) 'Implications of the Revised Draft EU Accession Agreement for the echr'. European Convention on Human Rights Law Review, 6 . [Link] [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2024 Anurag Deb; Eleni Frantziou; Tobias Lock (2024) 'The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework'. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, :488-521. [Link] https://doi.org/10.53386/nilq.v75i3.1118 [Full-Text]
    2024 Tobias Lock; Mary Dobbs; Karen Lynch Shally (2024) 'The Windsor Framework – guarantees, gaps and governance'. Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, . [Full-Text]
    2023 Tobias Lock (2023) 'Happy and Glorious? – Die interne Umsetzung des Brexit im Vereinigten Königreich'. Zeitschrift für Europarecht, 25 (6):G1-G24. [Link] [DOI]
    2023 Tobias Lock (2023) 'Gedanken zum Austausch zwischen der deutsch-und der englischsprachigen Europarechtswissenschaft'. European Papers, (1):93-97. [Link] [DOI]
    2022 Lock T. (2022) 'Irish Unity: Lessons from Germany?'. Irish Studies in International Affairs, 33 (2):200-226. [DOI] [Full-Text]
    2021 Kirsty Hughes; Tobias Lock (2021) 'Scotland‐Ireland relations in a European context'. JOURNAL OF CROSS BORDER STUDIES IN IRELAND, .
    2020 Tobias Lock (2020) 'The Future of EU Human Rights Law: Is Accession to the ECHR Still Desirable?'. Journal of International and Comparative Law, (7):428-447. [Full-Text]
    2020 Tobias Lock (2020) 'Von Komplexität und politischem Kompromiss: das Austrittsabkommen zwischen der Europäischen Union und dem Vereinigten Königreich'. Zeitschrift für Gesetzgebung, 35 (3):193-214.
    2019 Lock, T (2019) 'RIGHTS AND PRINCIPLES IN THE EU CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS'. Common Market Law Review, 56 :1201-1226. [Full-Text]
    2017 Tobias Lock (2017) 'Human Rights Law in the UK after Brexit'. Public Law, (Brexit Special Extra):117-134. [Full-Text]
    2016 Tobias Lock (2016) 'The influence of EU law on Strasbourg doctrines'. European Law Review, 41 :804-825. [Full-Text]
    2016 Tobias Lock (2016) 'The EU Accession to the ECHR, by Vassiliki Kosta et al'. European Law Review, 41 . [Full-Text]
    2015 Tobias Lock (2015) 'The future of the European Union’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights after Opinion 2/13: is it still possible and is it still desirable?'. European Constitutional Law Review, 11 :239-273. [Full-Text]
    2013 Tobias Lock (2013) 'Are there Exceptions to a Member State's Duty to Comply with the Requirements of a Directive?'. Common Market Law Review, 50 :217-230. [Full-Text]
    2013 Tobias Lock (2013) 'Religious Freedom and Belief Discrimination in Germany and the United Kingdom: Towards a Common European Standard?'. European Law Review, 38 :655-676. [Full-Text]
    2012 Tobias Lock (2012) 'End of an Epic?'. The Yearbook of European Law, 31 :162-197. [Full-Text]
    2012 Tobias Lock (2012) 'Is Private Enforcement of EU Law through State Liability a Myth?: An Assessment 20 Years after Francovich'. Common Market Law Review, 49 :1675-1702. [Full-Text]
    2011 Tobias Lock (2011) 'Walking on a Tightrope: The Draft Accession Agreement and the Autonomy of the EU Legal Order'. Common Market Law Review, 48 :1025-1054. [Full-Text]
    2010 Tobias Lock (2010) 'Beyond Bosphorus: The European Court of Human Rights’ Case Law on the Responsibility of Member States of International Organisations under the European Convention on Human Rights'. Human Rights Law Review, 10 :529-545. [Full-Text]
    2010 Tobias Lock (2010) 'EU Accession to the ECHR: Implications for Judicial Review in Strasbourg'. European Law Review, 35 :777-798. [Full-Text]
    2010 Tobias Lock (2010) 'Why the European Union is not a State: Some Critical Remarks'. European Constitutional Law Review, 5 :407-420. [Full-Text]
    2009 Tobias Lock (2009) 'The European Court of Justice: What are the Limits of European Jurisdiction?'. Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 16 :291-314.
    2009 Tobias Lock (2009) 'The ECJ and the ECtHR: The Future Relationship between the Two European Courts'. Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, 8 :375-398. [Full-Text]
    2005 Tobias Lock, Julia Riem (2005) 'Judging Nuremberg: The Laws, the Rallies, the Trials'. German Law Journal, 6 :1819-1832. [Full-Text]

    Book Chapter

    Year Publication
    2025 Tobias Lock (2025) 'Opinion 2/13 and Accession to the ECHR' In: Landmark Cases in EU Law I: Constitutional Cases. Oxford : Hart. [Full-Text]
    2024 Tobias Lock (2024) 'Articles 6, 9-12 TEU; Articles 1-19, 22, 24, 27-33, 35-38, 41-42, 47-54 CFR' In: The EU Treaties and Charter of Fundamental Rights: A Commentary, 2nd edn. Oxford : OUP.
    2022 Tobias Lock (2022) 'Citizenship beyond Irish and British' In: The Law and Practice of the Ireland–Northern Ireland Protocol. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009109840.017
    2022 Tobias Lock (2022) 'Refining and Expanding Implied Powers of the Union: Kramer' In: EU External Relations Law: The Cases in Context. Oxford : Hart.
    2021 Tobias Lock (2021) 'Future Participation in the Single Market: Prospects for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales” Excerpt From: Tobias Baumgartner. “Current Challenges of European Integration' In: Current Challenges of European Integration. Zurich : EIZ Publishing. [Link]
    2021 Tobias Lock (2021) 'Industrie-, Technologie-, und Forschungspolitik' In: Enzyklopädie Europarecht, Band 8, Europäische Querschnittspolitiken, 2. Auflage. Baden-Baden : Nomos.
    2021 Tobias Lock (2021) 'EU Accession to the ECHR' In: The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Oxford : Hart.
    2020 Tobias Lock (2020) 'In the twilight zone: the transition period in the Withdrawal Agreement' In: The Routledge Handbook on the International Dimension of Brexit. London : Routledge.
    2019 Tobias Lock (2019) 'Articles 6, 9-12 TEU; Articles 1-19, 22, 24, 27-33, 35-38, 41-42, 47-54 CFR' In: The EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
    2019 Tobias Lock (2019) 'Fishing for Better Rights Protection: the Court of Justice on the Application of the Charter in the Member States and the Reach of ne bis in idem' In: The Court of Justice and European Criminal Law. Oxford : Hart.
    2018 Tobias Lock (2018) 'Das Brexit-Experiment: ein verfassungsrechtlicher Härtetest' In: Verfassungskrisen in der Europäischen Union. Baden-Baden : Nomos.
    2018 Tobias Lock (2018) 'Scotland and Brexit' In: New Dynamics in the European Integration Process - Europe post-Brexit. Zurich : Schulthess.
    2017 Tobias Lock (2017) 'The EU before the European Court of Human Rights after accession' In: Research Handbook on EU Law and Human Rights. Cheltenham : Edward Elgar.
    2017 Tobias Lock (2017) 'The not so free choice of EU member states in international dispute settlement' In: The European Union and International Dispute Settlement. Oxford : Hart.
    2017 Tobias Lock (2017) 'A differentiated Brexit for Scotland?' In: Scotland, the UK and Brexit: A Guide to the Future. Edinburgh : Luath Press.
    2016 Tobias Lock (2016) 'Gasparini v Italy and Belgium, App. No. 10750/03, Admissibility Decision, European Court of Human Rights, 12 May 2009' In: Judicial Decisions on the Law of International Organizations. Oxford : OUP.
    2016 Tobias Lock (2016) 'Bosphorus Hava Yollari Turizm veTicaret Anonim Sirketi v Ireland, App. No. 45036/98, European Court of Human Rights, 30 June 2005' In: Judicial Decisions on the Law of International Organizations. Oxford : OUP.
    2014 Tobias Lock (2014) 'Industrie-, Forschungs- und Entwicklungspolitik' In: Europäische Querschnittpolitiken. Baden-Baden : Nomos.
    2012 Tobias Lock (2012) 'Accession of the EU to the ECHR Who Would Be Responsible in Strasbourg?' In: The European Union after the Treaty of Lisbon. Cambridge : CUP.
    2012 Tobias Lock (2012) 'Of Crucifixes and Headscarves Religious Symbols in German Schools' In: Law, Religious Freedoms and Education in Europe. Farnham : Ashgate.

    Edited Book

    Year Publication
    2014 Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou; Theodore Konstadinides; Tobias Lock; Noreen O'Meara (Ed.). (2014) Human Rights Law in Europe: The Influence, Overlaps and Contradictions of the EU and the ECHR. Abingdon: Routledge,

    Other Journal

    Year Publication
    2017 Emily Hancox, Tobias Lock, Nina Miller-Westoby (2017) 'Brexit and Rights in EU Law' Scottish Human Rights Journal, .
    2017 Tobias Lock (2017) 'Scotland’s place in Europe after Brexit: Between a rock and a hard place? A legal scoping exercise' Communication \& cognition. Monographies, 2 :183-200.
    2005 Tobias Lock, Bernhard Wegener (2005) 'Die Kleinen hängt man, die Großen lässt man laufen?: Berlusconi und Niselli – Ungleiche vor dem EuGH' Europarecht, :802-808.
    Certain data included herein are derived from the © Web of Science (2025) of Clarivate. All rights reserved.

    Professional Associations

    Description Function From / To
    Irish Centre for European Law Board member 01/11/2021 -

    Honors and Awards

    Date Title Awarding Body
    01/01/2018 British Academy Rising Star Engagement Award British Academy
    01/10/2020 Jean Monnet Chair in EU Law and Fundamental Rights European Commission

    Languages

    Language Reading Writing Speaking
    German Fluent Fluent Fluent
    Spanish Basic Basic Basic
    Italian Basic Basic Basic
    French Fluent Functional Functional

    Other Activities

    Description
    I am a member of the ARINS advisory group. More information here: https://www.ria.ie/arins/about-arins-analysing-and-researching-ireland-north-and-south

    Consultancy

    Client Description
    Academic Advisory Panel to the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership (Scotland)
    Scottish Parliament Advisor to the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee
    Scottish Parliament Advisor to the Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Affairs Committee
    Judicial Institute for Scotland Training sessions and training materials for the Scottish judiciary on post-Brexit legislation.

    Outreach Activities

    Organisation Type Description
    Oireachtas Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment Policy Makers Written evidence on the on the European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on accessing minimum wage levels
    Scottish Centre for European Relations Civic Society Advisory Board Member [Link]
    Northern Ireland Assembly Policy Makers Oral evidence to the Bill of Rights Ad Hoc Committee, Northern Ireland Assembly