Seven judges – six women and one man – were installed during an extraordinary sitting of the Joint Court of Justice in Willemstad on Friday afternoon. During the ceremony, Joint Court President Eunice Saleh announced an integrity plan for all Joint Court employees, including judges. In photo: The seven new members of the Joint Court of Justice, with (from left) Judges Wendy Geurts-de Veld, Kimberly Lasten, Eveline Nootenboom-Lock and Angele Martijn, Joint Court President Eunice Saleh and Judges Stephan van Lieshout, Ineke Eskes and Erna van Gink. Story on page .
WILLEMSTAD–Seven judges – six women and one man – were installed during an extraordinary sitting of the Joint Court of Justice in Willemstad on Friday afternoon. During the ceremony, Joint Court President Eunice Saleh announced an integrity plan for all Joint Court employees, including judges.
Saleh indicated that an integrity plan, including a code of conduct, is being drafted. She said integrity is a “core value” of the Court. The Joint Court President said that basic training courses on “awareness of integrity” have been organized for all employees and judges.
“The first milestone is to arrive at a code of conduct,” said Saleh. In parallel, an integrity plan is being worked on in which the Court is to establish the ambition, vision and objectives of the integrity policy as well as policy instruments with which this can be achieved.
Two of the newly installed judges hail from the Dutch Caribbean. Curaçaolenean Kimberly Lasten celebrated her 34th birthday last week and became the Court’s youngest member. Angeline Martijn (47) from Aruba is also among the newly installed judges.
Court President Saleh also introduced Judges Eveline Nootenboom-Lock (38), Wendy Geurts-de Veld (44), Erna van Gink (54), Ineke Eskes, who celebrated her 58th birthday last week, and the only man behind the table, Judge Stephan van Lieshout (58).
The audience was filled with family and friends, prosecutors and lawyers. Acting Governor of Curaçao Michèle Russel-Capriles and Vice Chair of the Parliament of Curaçao Eugène Cleopa were also present.
Besides Saleh, Attorney General Roger Bos and Dean of the Curaçao Bar Association Rogier van den Heuvel delivered speeches, as well as Geurts on behalf of the new magistrates.
One of the installed judges is no stranger to St. Maarten. Van Lieshout joined the Joint Court previously in 1997 and presided over court cases in Curaçao and St. Maarten for five years. “Mr. Van Lieshout then closed our islands in his heart, but it took 16 years before he decided to apply again,” Saleh said.
During his stint in the Netherlands, Van Lieshout has worked as a judge in Utrecht and Rotterdam and at the Mid-Netherlands Court. It was said that he is experienced in handling controversial cases and the publicity that comes with them. Van Lieshout has been hearing criminal cases in the Court of First Instance since December 2018.
The number of Joint Court judges has been reinforced even more with the appointment by the Kingdom Council of Ministers of Th. G. Lautenbach as a member of the Court, on the proposal of the Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker, also on behalf of his colleagues, the Ministers of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao and St. Maarten. Lautenbach was appointed Friday and the appointment will come into effect on January 1, 2020.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/91153-integrity-plan-announced-during-installation-of-seven-new-judges
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