PHILIPSBURG – Parliament’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Affairs and Inter-Parliamentary Relations has been advised by legal expert Ralph Richardson to object to the draft kingdom law regulating sanctions imposed by the European Union.

 

Richardson gave his advice in a meeting of the committee in Parliament House on Monday morning. He said if St. Maarten agrees to the kingdom law, the country “will no longer have the possibility to say anything about sanctions imposed.”

 

St. Maarten will just have to take over EU sanctions with “no freedom of choice.” He used the example of a sanction being imposed on a country with which St. Maarten has close ties due to European based concerns with no ramifications for St. Maarten. Should St. Maarten agree to the law as it is, St. Maarten would suffer for a European conflict or concern.

 

Richardson advised the committee, chaired by Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams (Democratic Party), to get the government’s position and that of Aruba and Curaçao on the draft law. He suggested Parliament pursue a joint position with the two other Dutch Caribbean countries for submission to the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. The law is up for treatment in the Dutch Parliament.

 

MPs will take up the matter with Aruba and Curaçao and further pursue it in the tripartite meeting of the three Dutch Caribbean countries set for May in The Hague.

 

The Parliamentary committee also handled a number of other kingdom laws related to international treaties such as the draft kingdom law related to the Europe Council Treaty on violence against women and domestic violence.

 

Government will be asked by Parliament to outline what is already in place to tackle these issues. Some consultation will also be carried out with groups dealing with the treaty topics to get a broader perspective on the situation on St. Maarten.

 

The treaty is signed by the Netherlands, thus it is applicable to St. Maarten. The country cannot reject the draft kingdom law, but it can put forward its position. Parliament, as a formality, needs to give its approval for the draft law.

 

The kingdom law stemming from the international treaty dealing with wrecks was taken note of by the committee as it was sent by the Dutch Parliament for information as were the changes to the international treaty on whaling.

 

E-mails about questions to the Council of State from the Second Chamber and others on the use of kingdom instructions of the Dutch Caribbean countries were also taken note of by the committee.

 

MPs present for the meeting along with Wescot-Williams were William Marlin and George Pantophlet of National Alliance, Frans Richardson (United St. Maarten Party), Dr. Lloyd Richardson (United People’s party) and Leona Marlin-Romeo (independent).

 

The Daily Herald

 

Ralph Richardson is an attorney at law and partner at Richardson & Nicolaas in Sint Maarten.