Ten years no supervision of notaries on St. Maarten
By Harriot Voncken
PHILIPSBURG — Citizens who believe a notary has not complied with the rules and therefore wish to submit a complaint cannot turn to the Chamber of Notaries. This professional body in charge of supervising notaries is not active; this is because since 2010, the Chamber has not had a notary member.
Someone who is disadvantaged by this is Demitrus Marlin. He already filed a complaint in 2015 against a notary but that was not dealt with at the time. He also sent a letter to the Governor of St. Maarten that year about the absence of the Chamber of Notaries. His letter was forwarded to the Ministry of Justice at the time. Marlin believed that the problem had been resolved and this year he again went to the Chamber with a complaint about a notary.
Marlin: “Procedural errors have been made during the auctioning of my apartments. My property had been seized and I believe the seizure had not been released. My complaint has been forwarded to the notary concerned. If there will be no hearing, I will be very surprised. Because what else can be done? I consulted the Ombudsman but they refer to the Chamber of Notaries. ”
Nobody available
The Chamber of Notaries falls under the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao and St Maarten. The Chamber must consist of two judges and a notary member.
But as Sint Maarten has only three civil-law notaries and three candidate notaries, no one is available, the Court of Justice explains. The notaries do not want to handle complaints against their colleagues; the community on the island is too small for that, according to the Court.
It is legally established that the supervisory body must exist; supervision contributes to the quality and reliability of the notary profession. The Chamber of Notaries can issue fines of up to 10,000 guilders and even remove civil-law notaries.
A lawsuit, such as a summary proceeding, is currently the only way for people in St Maarten to resolve a conflict with a notary. There is, for instance, no Dispute Resolution Committee.
Marlin has since filed a lawsuit against a notary. He continues to wait for a response from the Chamber of Notaries. “Due to my conflict with the bank and also the notary, some of my apartments have been auctioned and I still have a debt with the bank. As a result, I cannot start new projects or take out loans.”
‘Striking that St. Maarteners are filing summary proceedings against their notary because of the long wait’
Since St. Maarten became autonomous on October 10, 2010, the complaints from the non-active Chamber have been put on hold. There are five so far.
“The Chamber of Notaries is active in Curaçao and holds a session three to four times a year. In principle, this Chamber could also handle complaints about notaries in St. Maarten, but it is not authorized to do so in St. Maarten,” the Court of Justice responds.
“This requires a change of law and that is the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice St. Maarten. However, that legislation has not yet been finalized. Under a new law a notary from Curaçao could, for instance, become an expert member.” The Court found that notaries from Curaçao were willing to become members of the St. Maarten Chamber of Notaries.
Finally, the Court of Justice states that cases against notaries are not uncommon. “These also occur in the Netherlands and in Curaçao. What is striking is that St. Maarteners sometimes file summary proceedings against their own notary because they have to wait too long. ”
The notaries were also asked to respond. Two referred back to the Court, the third did not respond to the question.
Source: https://caribischnetwerk.ntr.nl/2019/12/30/tien-jaar-geen-toezicht-op-notarissen-sint-maarten/
Published by Caribisch Netwerk
