Gijs is specialised in international trade law with a focus on (financial) sanctions and has experience working at several government organisations involved in the implementation of sanction measures.

Prior to joining BenninkAmar Advocaten, Gijs worked for five years for the Dutch Ministry of Finance and the Customs Administration in different capacities. He among others worked as a policy advisor on the topic of financial sanctions and as attaché on behalf of the Customs Administration at the embassy in Moscow, Russia. Before this he completed internships at a political party in Amsterdam and the embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Gijs obtained his bachelor’s degree in law and public administration at the University of Groningen, during which he did minors in multilateral diplomacy and Russian language and culture. In 2018 he completed cum laude his master’s in international trade and investment law at the University of Amsterdam. During his master’s, he competed in the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court and wrote his thesis on the legality of the EU sanction measures against the Russian Federation in the light of the World Trade Organisation treaties.

Gijs joined BenninkAmar Advocaten in May 2023.