Christien Saris is a lawyer and the founder of SarisLaw. She studied European and Dutch Law at the Radboud University in Nijmegen and at the Université de Poitiers in France. In 2008, she completed a mini-MBA at INSEAD.
In 2001, Christien joined the renowned law firm Stibbe in Amsterdam as a lawyer in administrative law. She has extensive experience with complex administrative law cases and an impressive network in the private and public domain.
She is also a much sought-after speaker, chairperson and lecturer. For instance, she has given workshops to the Dutch Data Protection Authority on its enforcement instruments in 2023.
Christien is a prolific author, and her publications on the proportionality of fines have prompted changes in case law. These publications, which she co-authored at the Ministry of Justice and Security, have been used in government policy on penalty systems and the legal protection of citizens and companies that are faced with fines.
Christien is a member of the complaints advisory committee of the Senate and was a member and deputy chair of the Committee for Objections Enforcement Statistics Netherlands [Centraal bureau voor de statistiek] for three years. Furthermore, she is a member of the Vereniging voor bestuursrecht [Administrative Law Association].
In the Netherlands Bar’s register of legal practice areas [rechtsgebiedenregister], she has registered the following principal legal practice areas: Administrative law. Based on this registration, Christien is required to obtain ten training credits per calendar year in accordance with the standards set by the Netherlands Bar.