PHILIPSBURG:--- The justice sector attracted more written parliamentary scrutiny than any other area of government during the 2025–2026 Parliamentary Year, according to Parliament’s official Annual Report.
The report shows that the Minister of Justice received 28 letters containing written questions from Members of Parliament—the highest number directed to any minister.
The Minister of General Affairs followed with 24, while the Minister of Finance received 22.
The Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication received 16 letters; the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport received 14; the Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure received 13; and the Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor received nine.
|
Ministry |
Letters directed to the minister |
|
Justice |
28 |
|
General Affairs |
24 |
|
Finance |
22 |
|
TEATT |
16 |
|
ECYS |
14 |
|
VROMI |
13 |
|
VSA |
9 |
|
Total ministry attributions |
126 |
Justice Sector Dominated Oversight
Justice’s position at the top reflects the serious issues confronting the sector during the parliamentary year.
Parliament dealt with concerns involving the Pointe Blanche Prison and House of Detention, the position of justice workers and representative unions, crime, youth safety, road safety, and plans for the new prison facility.
On October 21, 2025, Parliament held a closed-door Central Committee meeting with representatives of the Law Enforcement Council concerning an Article 32 notification about what the council described as the “unsustainable situation” at the Pointe Blanche Prison and House of Detention.
The notification followed several reports and recommendations the council issued on ongoing problems at the prison.
Parliament’s annual report also records a Central Committee meeting on January 28, 2026, addressing urgent unresolved matters affecting justice workers and the relationship between the Ministry of Justice and representative unions.
The level of concern surrounding the justice sector therefore makes the ministry’s position at the top of the written-question ranking unsurprising.
Understanding the Numbers
The report states that MPs submitted 114 written-question letters during the 2025–2026 Parliamentary Year—up from 77 in 2024–2025 and 71 in 2023–2024.
However, the ministry table records 126 letter attributions because one letter may contain questions directed to more than one minister. The figure of 126 should therefore not be described as 126 separate letters.
Similarly, the individual-MP table totals 129 attributions because certain letters were submitted jointly by two or more MPs.
These different totals are not necessarily contradictory; they reflect different ways of attributing the same body of correspondence.
Written parliamentary questions are one of the formal mechanisms through which MPs can demand information, raise matters of public concern and hold ministers accountable for government actions and policies.
For 2025–2026, Parliament’s official figures make one conclusion clear: no ministry attracted more written-question letters than Justice.