WILLEMSTAD - The Ministry of General Affairs of Curaçao receives financial support, in the form of a subsidy from the Netherlands, for the realization of the so-called GT project or Project Consolidated Texts. This project is part of the National Package and the resulting Implementation Agenda. This concerns the conversion of legal texts into the constitutional structure of the country and any changes that have been made over the decades. A continuous text is also made of the relevant writings. This makes the legislation of Curaçao more transparent and understandable.
There is a great need for consolidated texts of legislation and regulations, especially in view of the fact that from October 10, 2010, pursuant to the General transitional arrangement for legislation and administration of the country of Curaçao, the government of Curaçao has been instructed by national ordinance to prepare and set up consolidated texts. With the acquisition of the status of autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it has been determined that the laws and regulations of both the island territory of Curaçao and the Country of the Netherlands Antilles, with the exception of a small number of regulations, will continue to apply in the (new) country Curacao. The still applicable laws and regulations must therefore be adapted or consolidated to the new situation or constellation of the country of Curaçao.
In order to realize this project, the Legal Documentation Foundation (JurDoc) was approached to update approximately 850 regulations that need to be revised and consolidated. JurDoc already has (digital) files of applicable legal regulations, as well as the necessary expertise and experience in drafting consolidated and continuous texts of legislation and regulations.
It can also be mentioned that the codes such as the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure, the Code of Criminal Law and the Code of Criminal Procedure have already been made available by JurDoc in the form of continuous texts. JurDoc is currently preparing consolidated texts of some forty regulations for the Country. These regulations are regulations for which ministries, or important stakeholders such as the Bar Association, have indicated that there is a great need for consolidated texts.
In addition, this project includes the optimization of the digital law database, which can be consulted via: wjz.gobiernu.cw. In the law bank, all laws and regulations of Curaçao will be electronically available to everyone.
The government of the Netherlands has made a subsidy of 360,000 Euros available for this project. The project falls under the direction of the Legislation and Legal Affairs Department of the Ministry of General Affairs. The Minister of General Affairs and the management team of this directorate are very grateful for the fruitful cooperation with all partners involved. The project team is highly motivated to bring this project to a successful conclusion, so that eventually all laws and regulations of Curaçao will be accessible to everyone.
Photo: from left to right: Djurick Comenentia (Prime Minister's Cabinet), Lennard Nijenhuis (TWO), Jennifer Fer (Director WJZ), Caroline Fiévez (Secretary of the Board of Jurdoc), Gilmar Pisas (Prime Minister), Flora Goudappel (Chairman of the Board of Jurdoc), Rick Buijs (Director Jurdoc), Carlien de Wit Hamer (Adj, Director Jurdoc), Roxiënne Albertina (Policy Officer)