SABA–The island of Saba will get a legal aid desk as of late February 2019 to advise residents on all legal matters, ranging from family law and wills to labour conflicts and undivided properties. Saba is the first island in the Caribbean Netherlands to set up such a help desk.

Nathalie Tackling, a legal professional from St. Maarten, will visit Saba for two days (Friday and Saturday) at the end of every month to render advice via the legal aid desk. The legal aid desk will have walk-in hours and also work with appointments. The service will be free of charge to individuals; companies and organizations can make use of the services for a small fee.

According to the Saba government, the legal desk was born out of necessity. Residents on Saba have limited access to quality legal advice and conflict resolution in the broadest sense. There is no permanent judiciary body, no permanent notary, no permanent attorneys-at-law and no mediators. Many residents, public and private institutions don’t know their rights and obligations, while companies struggle due to a lack of know-how.

Quality legal advice, according to the government statement, seems to be reserved for those who can financially afford it. To remedy pressing legal issues, the government with financial assistance from the Dutch Ministry of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations BZK decided to start a legal aid desk pilot for one year.

The legal aid desk will provide impartial advice, separately and independently from any government body. It will have a low threshold, and anyone is welcome to come in for advice. The legal aid desk can solve relatively simple cases on its own, while it can refer complex cases to the right legal professional.

The legal aid desk will have an educational function by organizing workshops and public gatherings where the different themes will be discussed, for example on immigration law, or undivided real estate or property law in the Dutch Caribbean.

These workshops or town hall meetings will be held bimonthly on a Friday evening and will be open to the public. Depending on the topic, the relevant institutions will receive special invitations.

The legal desk will operate a general practice, which means that the person manning the desk is well versed in all areas of the law and able to solve simple matters on the spot. The most common areas that the legal desk can help with will be: contract law, property law, labour law, family law, immigration law and administrative law.

Residents can also take a conflict with their neighbour to the legal desk. In improving the conflict resolution, the legal desk will be able to act as a mediator between residents.

The legal aid desk is not to be confused with the Ombudsman. The latter handles complaints of residents against the government.

The legal aid desk that Saba will be establishing serves as an addition and a broadening of the services provided by the Ombudsman who regularly travels from the Netherlands to Saba.

Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/83160-saba-to-get-legal-aid-desk-as-of-late-february-2019