Quirine Tjeenk Willink

Practice Areas

Telecommunications

Privacy

Career

Quirine specializes in general administrative law, government regulation and administrative law enforcement, with a focus on telecom, energy and privacy law.

She is an expert in the field of frequency law and since the zero base distribution in 2003 she has been advising various telecom and radio parties in strategic frequency auctions. She was involved in the 2.6 Ghz auction in 2010, the 4G auction in 2012, the first 5G auction in 2020, and the FM auction in 2023.

With her profound knowledge of administrative procedural law, Quirine also represents market participants in enforcement investigations by regulators in various sectors. In the past, she represented market parties in penalty investigations in the telecom sector, the food sector, the education sector, the gambling sector, the financial sector and in the field of privacy and data protection law.

In the field of energy law, Quirine frequently advises clients on connection issues of grid operators and grid congestion on the power grid. For example, she was involved in the development of an innovative virtual grid at the Schiphol Trade Park business park, where companies with and without power transmission work together. This allows more sustainable, smarter and cheaper use of the local grid operator's existing infrastructure, without putting businesses at greater risk of power outages.

Quirine has extensive litigation experience in administrative law; she frequently acts in appeal proceedings in the areas of frequency law, tariff regulation, general telecom law, media regulation, municipal levies and childcare regulation. Quirine also advised the national government on the review of the licensing system in the gambling sector in the report “Op weg naar een aangepast loterijenstelsel. Een juridische verkenning.” [Towards an adjusted lotteries system. A legal exploration.]

Quirine lectures regularly, including the ‘Toezicht en Handhaving’ [Supervision and Enforcement] module at the renowned Data Protection Law specialization course of the Leiden Law Academy, part of Leiden University. She is also author of the chapter ‘Sancties, Beroep en Aansprakelijkheid’ [Sanctions, Appeal and Liability] in Wolters Kluwer’s ‘Tekst en Commentaar Algemene Verordening Gegevensbescherming’ [Text and Comments to the General Data Protection Regulation].