Collecting more taxes does not require reform; it requires enforcement
PHILIPSBURG — Tax reform. Tax compliance. Tax evasion. Tax fraud. These are all well-known terms in St. Maarten where fooling the tax inspectorate is seen by quite some citizens and companies as a national sport. According to some experts, compliance stands at 30 or maybe 35 percent, meaning that the majority of those who ought to be tax payers More...
MP Buncamper faces three years in prison
PHILIPSBURG — The public prosecutor demanded on Monday a 3-year prison sentence against Member of Parliament Claudius Buncamper and a 12-month sentence against his wife, former Public Health Minister Maria More...
Is the Constitutional Court such a good idea?
By Hilbert Haar St. Maarten’s judicial system contains a unique institution: the Constitutional Court. No other country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands has such a court. Is that good or bad? First of all it More...
Corstens pleads for judicial reform in the Netherlands
PHILIPSBURG — The Dutch judicial system could do with a makeover that had the potential to spill over to St. Maarten. Geert Corstens, a former President of the Supreme Court in The Hague made the suggestion More...
MP Buncamper took 600,000 in bribes, prosecution charges
PHILIPSBURG -- The trial against parliamentarian Claudius Buncamper (United St. Maarten party, USp) is the result of an investigation into corruption that began in July 2018. The first court hearings were on September More...
More prison time looms for former MP Frans Richardson
PHILIPSBURG — There is more trouble on the horizon for former parliamentarian Frans Richardson, the founder of the United St. Maarten party (USp). On November 16, the Court in First Instance will hand down More...
Penal law scholars question deployment of TBO-prosecutors and judges
PHILIPSBURG — The Association of St. Maarten Penal Law Scholars has approached Minister of Justice Anna Richardson with questions about the deployment of Curacao-based prosecutors, judges, judges of instruction, More...
Embezzling notary sent to jail
WILLEMSTAD — Eighteen months of imprisonment and a 5-year ban on functioning as a public notary. That is the punishment the Court in First Instance handed down on Friday to Johnny Kleinmoedig for stealing More...
Notary plays a false note and faces profession ban
WILLESTAD — Renowned composer and piano player Johnny Kleinmoedig is facing an 18-months prison sentence (with 6 months suspended) and a ban from practicing as a public notary for five years. The public prosecutor More...
No talks about lower prison sentence for Theo Heyliger – UPDATED
PHILIPSBURG -- There are many rumors circulating about the fate of Theo Heyliger, the founder of the United People’s party (UP), who was sentenced in May of last year in the Larimar-trial to five years of imprisonment More...
