WILLEMSTAD - The Curaçao Attorney General Ton Maan has responded in harsh terms to the criticism of the Curaçao Association of Christian Pastors almost a month later. They had questioned the integrity of the intended new Court President, Mauritsz de Kort, because of his sexual orientation.
According to Maan, criticism of court decisions is allowed. According to him, it is part of the system. "But every citizen or social group must always realize that publicly disqualifying a judge because his person or orientation does not match his own world view, is an inadmissible attack on one of the pillars of the rule of law, our honest judiciary."
Court ruling
That is what Maan said in a speech during the installation of new judges on 12 November. The case revolves around a decision of the court in Curaçao, on September 13, which determined that there is "no justification for refusing same-sex couples a civil marriage". Certainly as long as there is no registered partnership.
That was the outcome of a case brought by the human rights organization Human Rights Caribbean on behalf of two women on the island who want to get married. According to the judge, it is up to the legislator to take measures to eliminate the 'unauthorized discrimination'.
'Activist judges'
More than a month later, on October 16, the Asosashon Pastornan Kristian (APK), the united pastors, wrote a response to the case. In it, the APK turned against the 'activist judges'. According to the association, marriage can only be reserved for a man and a woman. In doing so, it asked how the population can have confidence in the judiciary "if an openly gay man is nominated as court president?"
The Bar Association subsequently announced that it would oppose what they consider to be discriminatory statements by the APK. Other organizations, including religious ones, also argued that the Christian pastors had crossed a line by attacking the court president on his sexuality.
Court President
During the installation session on Curaçao, the current President of the Court, Mr. Eunice Saleh, also discussed the question of the APK whether the Curaçao population can still have confidence in the Court. Saleh emphasizes that the aforementioned ruling was not rendered by De Kort.
She also says that the Court has not previously responded to APK's comments, because they related to a lawsuit. The Court does not wish to enter into a public debate on substantive matters. "But the ruling of the APK also touches on a larger theme: trust in judges and the judiciary in general," says Saleh.
Democratic rule of law
She calls independent and impartial justice one of the characteristics of a healthy democratic constitutional state. The fact that the APK links its expressed reservations regarding the recommended president to the trust in the Court of Justice and the judiciary as an institution is, in its view, no cause for concern.
“Our legal system has safeguards to promote the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary. The various Constitutions, the Joint Court Kingdom Act, the Joint Court Legal Status Decree and other statutory regulations contain various provisions that are intended to guarantee the independence, impartiality and integrity of the judiciary," said Saleh.
According to Saleh, the Court of Appeal has 'ensuring trust in the judiciary is continuously high on the agenda'. According to her, the Court has therefore "all confident that this core value is also in good hands with the recommended future president". De Kort will serve as Court President from 1 January 2022.