WILLEMSTAD–Former Prime Minister of Curaçao Gerrit Schotte, currently behind bars for corruption, has lost the appeal filed against the related cancellation of his membership in Parliament.
According to the National Ordinance on the cancellation of membership in Parliament, a Member of Parliament (MP) who ceases to be a member after an irrevocable criminal conviction has two weeks to appeal to the Dutch Caribbean’s Joint Court of Justice. This is not an appeal against the sentence, but only against losing the seat.
The Joint Court ruled in the appeal on Wednesday and declared Schotte’s appeal unfounded, as he had legitimately lost his seat.
The Court established that Schotte had been irrevocably convicted to a three-year prison sentence by the High Court of the Netherlands on November 27, 2018.
In its verdict, the Appellate Court rejected Schotte’s appeal based on jurisprudence by the European Court of Human Rights which stated that no irreversible consequences may be attached pending a complaint procedure with the Human Rights Court.
However, the Court of Appeals stated that only in the event of a violation of a convention or treaty redress must be sought within the national legal sphere.
Also, from jurisprudence by the Human Rights Committee, as submitted by Schotte’s legal defence team, the Court of Appeals could not ascertain that a State cannot attach legal consequences to an irrevocable criminal conviction.
Schotte’s appeal to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which was adopted in 1969, was also rejected because signatory parties are only obligated to adhere to a treaty “in good faith.”
Until there is an irrevocable verdict in the case, the MFK leader could not be replaced by another candidate on the opposition party’s most recent election ballot. This means that a succession by either the next in line Juniël Carolina or by Charetti Eduarda, as suggested by Schotte, has been temporarily put on hold.
The convict made use of the appeal procedure to buy himself some time in terms of keeping his legislative seat and accompanying salary from inside prison at “Sentro di Detenshon i Korekshon Kòrsou (SDKK).”
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/84860-schotte-loses-appeal-against-loss-of-his-parliament-seat
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