~ LB is now being made to formalize the payment. ~
PHILIPSBURG: --- Acting Minister of Justice Grisha Heyliger Marten on Wednesday responded to the news reports regarding the Ministerial Decree she signed to pay Minister of Justice Lyndon Lewis based on a court verdict he received several years ago.
Heyliger Marten said the former Council of Ministers made the decision in June 2021 following a court verdict in favor of the now Minister of Justice, Lyndon Lewis.
“Back then, she said, the Council of Ministers decided that all officers that won their court cases should be paid by Ministerial Decree since the former governor was not signing off on any Landsbesluit. The former Minister of Justice prepared an MB in May 2022; the former Minister never signed the Ministerial decree before leaving office, and Minister Lewis could not sign for himself as the Acting Minister of Justice. I signed off on it, but unfortunately, there was an administrative error in drafting the decree. Therefore, it is now being corrected. The Minister of Justice and the Legal Affairs Department are working on a Landsbesluit to replace the one I signed off on.”
In a follow statement at the Council of Ministers press briefing Minister of Justice Lyndon Lewis said that the former Minister intentionally did not finalize his payment even though he had a verdict that was in favor in his hands, he said all of this was because he represented several justice workers in court. Lewis said that all the officers he represented and won their cases were paid, and he was the only one not paid by the former Minister of Justice.
Minister Lewis said that the former Minister of Justice had her colleagues draft a Ministerial Decree that she did not sign off on. He said even the former Council of Ministers decided to pay him, and the LB was sent to the governor and sent back, but the former Minister pushed it in a drawer and left it there because he was part of the political arena. He further said the former Minister of Justice took it personally; he said everyone he represented in court managed to get their affairs regulated except him.
The Minister further explained that batch 7 of the LBs being prepared for Justice workers will be sent to the governor today, Wednesday, 31st July 2024, and his LB is part of that batch. He said he has since asked that his LB be removed from the batch since he is in possession of a verdict, and his scaling should be handled separately so that the verdict from the court is reflected.
