Wescot Williams said the draft on the council is suppose to oversee the quality of all parts of the justice chain as well as cooperation between the countries of Curacao, St. Maarten and the Netherlands in the area of justice.
She said the draft consensus Kingdom Law on council on law and order was agreed to on October 1st 2008, where it was established that the council would also oversee justice tasks of the coast guard.
This council would also have to carry out its duties in St. Maarten, Curacao and the BES islands. The draft she said was deliberated and amended on numerous occasions in the so-called PRRC who also approved the law prior to it been sent to the island council.
During yesterday's preceding several questions was posed to the island leader by Island councilman Rudolph Samuel concerning the council that would be regulating this law. Samuel said the law is not only important but very serious. He said because of the seriousness of these laws then it is vital that the people of St. Maarten be given additional information on the implications of these laws. He suggested that a copy of the laws be placed at the library so that the people can get access for perusals. Another concern for Samuel is what would be cost of managing the council. Something that is not yet finalized said Wescot Williams in her response however she said that has to be done so that the expenses can be taken up on Country St. Maarten budget.
Wescot Williams agreed that the law is of great importance and while the law would be on the government's websites she said it would be a good idea to place it at the library in both languages. She acknowledged that the government websites are under reconstruction since they want to make the site more accessible as well as more space for documentation.
Also approved yesterday is the Consensus Kingdom law on the Police of Curacao, St. Maarten, Bonaire, Saba and Eustatius. Wescot Williams in her presentation said the police law was the most hotly discussed Kingdom laws. She said it only after a lot of negotiations this law was approved by the PRRC. Some of the questions she said arise concerning amendments of these laws.
The said the agreement on this particular law was reached on a political level after being challenged several times. One of these biggest hurdles she said was the joint services for the police. She said this particular article was taken out for deliberation. This law she said is applicable to Curacao, St. Maarten and the BES islands which also stems from the November 2 2006 agreement. It has been agreed that each of the islands will have their separate police forces.
The island leader also gave basic break down on the articles of the police law. One of the highlights of this law regards the make of the force which would have a police chief and their authorities and to whom they are accountable.
Councilman Samuel in questioning the law said he wants to know what is St. Maarten's specific task on the development of the local police force? Furthermore he wants to know how far is the island government in fulfilling its requirement on this specific law.
Wescot Williams in her brief response said that it extremely important for the island council members to take note on the documents that were submitted to them since all the necessary is attached. She also said that there are going to be individual workgroups to guide the process in the police organization.
The island leader said Attorney at Law Richard Gibson Sr. has been tasked with the justice related matters for country St. Maarten. She said Gibson has been working tireless hours to make sure everything is in place while he has been holding countless meetings with the Minister of Justice. She said that Gibson is the chairman of St. Maarten workgroup reason why he is pulling the justice cart.
Peeved at the response Samuel said that when the island council members posed questions to the executive council is not that they don't know the answers. He said the reason behind the questioning is to give the listening public the opportunity to have more information on their country and its laws. The councilman also wanted to know if the committee that is working on the police law has a deadline since far too often it is said the date is put off due to the justice chain.
Also debated before it was also unanimously approved is the Consensus Kingdom Law on the dismantling of the Netherlands Antilles.
Wescot Williams said one could approve all the laws but if they do not the approve the proposal to change charter with the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles then it would be a waste of time. She said none of the above laws would be able to take effect unless St. Maarten is able to attain its country status.
When this law is approved then it would pave the way for two other countries which is St. Maarten and Curacao as well as public entity.
