Eleven pro bono attorneys are on strike; court cases in limbo
Justice Ministry does not pay
GREAT BAY – The strike of on-call attorneys, initiated by attorney Geert Hatzmann two weeks ago, has widened. Currently eleven attorneys are on strike. They only serve paying clients and do not handle cases of defendants who have to rely on the state for legal assistance because they cannot afford an attorney.
“Up to this moment the minister of justice (or one of his associates) has not been in touch,” Cor Merx, the chairman of the section criminal justice of the Bar Association, states in a press release. “The minister of finance has also put off the problem by saying that this is a concern of the ministry of justice.”
The conflict between the attorneys and the justice ministry is about the payment of outstanding invoices. Hatzmann has not been paid for the work he did in June and July – money for which you could “easily buy a new car” he told this newspaper when he went on strike on September 6. A week later, attorneys Shaira Bommel and Sjamira Roseburg of the office of Sulvaran and Peterson joined the action.
Last week, Merx was optimistic, saying there was ‘light at the end of the tunnel” but yesterday he acknowledged that that light has gone out.
The attorneys that have joined Hatzmann, Bommel and Roseburg are Norissa de la Rosa and Safira Ibrahim of the office of Duncan and Brandon, Brenda Brooks, Remco Stomp, Marlon Hart, Zylena Bary, the dean of the Bar Association Aernout Kraaijeveld and Cor Merx.
A Member of Parliament that Merx did not identify by name in his press release is about to ask the responsible ministers questions about the situation in parliament.
The section criminal justice of the Bar Association intends to bring the situation to the attention of the Dutch parliament as well, “especially because this is apparently about budget deficits – an ordinary financial problem,” the press release states.
The strike means that all cases that are on the docket in court tomorrow for pro bono clients will have to be postponed because the attorneys have downed their tools. The strike also affects the arraignments of suspects at the Judge of Instruction.
