THE HAGUE–The Council of State considers it important that the countries of the Kingdom come to a good understanding about the evaluation of the future Dispute Regulation for the Kingdom.
The Council of State Advisory Department drafted an advice on the request of the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament regarding the Kingdom Law proposal to set up a Dispute Regulation for the Kingdom. The Second Chamber published the May 8 advice on Friday.
Before going into providing answers to the two formal questions the Second Chamber had posed, the Council of State pointed out that there were still differences of opinion between the Netherlands and the other countries of the Kingdom about the format and range of the Dispute Regulation.
“That is why it is important to thoroughly evaluate the proposed regulation. The advice is to arrive at an agreement with all involved parties in the short term about the format, methodology and criteria for the evaluation and to decide on an independent institution that will carry out this evaluation,” the Council stated in its advice.
Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten want the Dispute Regulation in the form of a binding ruling by an independent entity about the legitimacy of a decision taken by the Kingdom Council of Ministers. The Dutch government does not want a binding ruling.
The Dutch government submitted the Dispute Regulation Kingdom Law proposal late November 2018, without consulting the Dutch Caribbean countries.
The adaptation in the latest law proposal in comparison to the previous one of 2017 was reason for the Second Chamber’s Permanent Committee for Kingdom Relations to ask the Council of State for advice on two questions. The Committee asked about making a distinction between the legal and political-governmental aspects of the Dispute Regulation and about the procedure for handling a dispute.
The Council noted that matters of interpretation regarding the Charter will generally not limit themselves to strictly legal questions, but will also involve political-governmental aspects. The political-governmental context of the dispute will be included in the ruling, the Council stated.
The Council of State will apply the existing regulation process regarding disputes as much as possible if the Dutch Parliament decides to select the Council of State as the body to rule on disputes within the Kingdom.
This means that the Vice-President of the Council of State will appoint a special Crown disputes committee which will prepare the advice on the dispute. The Council of Ministers of the involved country will be given the opportunity to share its view on the dispute in question, as well as the other Councils of Ministers.
Now that the Council of State’s advice has reached the Second Chamber, the Committee for Kingdom Relations will proceed to handle the law proposal. The parties can submit their questions and remarks up to June 5. It is the intention to handle the Kingdom Law Dispute Regulation late June, after the Inter-Parliamentary Consultation for the Kingdom.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/87416-council-of-state-says-evaluation-important
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