An Elected Prime Minister for Sint Maarten

Legal opinion piece titled “An Elected Prime Minister for Sint Maarten” by attorney at law and member of our legal review committee, Mr. Reynold Groeneveldt. Introduction: In our current Governmental system the Prime Minister is chosen and appointed by the majority in Parliament. It is in fact the coalition in Parliament that determines More...

Parliamentary Inquiry costs more and still you have no legal binding outcome
Dear editor, If you claim ownership of land and problems occur about the claim, you can go to court and ask a verdict. The judge will check the claim related to the civil code and eventually other legislation in More...

Politically Exposed Persons in the crosshairs of money laundering legislation
PHILIPSBURG - The draft national ordinance that aims to regulate the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing embraces all forty recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force. One of these recommendations More...

Democratic Deficit in The Kingdom of The Netherlands
Introduction. Curacao and Dependencies comprising of Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire together with St. Eustatius and Dependencies comprising of St. Eustatius, St. Maarten and Saba were Dutch colonies from 1815 until More...

TYPES OF LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS OF COUNTRY SINT MAARTEN
Our Country is often referred to as a State of Law (Rechtstaat). This means that our Country is governed by the rule of law, and that every formal decision of the state must be based on a law and the authority provided More...

DEMISSIONARY OR INTERIM CABINET?
As a young country with its many political challenges, there is a need to understand the various mechanisms and tools available in a democracy laid down in our Constitution. The past seven and a half years have More...

THE RIGHT TO DISSOLVE PARLIAMENT
The Constitution stipulates that the term of the Parliament is 4 years, however article 59 also provides that the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet) can make use of its right of dissolution and dissolve the Parliament More...

OUR ELECTORAL SYSTEM
Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens exercise their power directly by electing representatives via political parties, to form a governing body, such as Parliament. An electoral system More...

THE MOTION OF NO CONFIDENCE
In general a Motion is a question or issue put to a vote in Parliament expressing its position on a particular topic or issue, its feelings or view, a desire or an instruction of Parliament on any particular subject. More...

FORMATION, SCREENING, APPOINTMENT and DISMISSAL OF MINISTERS
On February 26, 2018, a “snap” election will take place. Voters are called to cast their vote to elect 15 Parliamentarians. According to the Constitution of St. Maarten, Parliament has the task to approve concept More...