THE HAGUE - Undersecretary Raymond Knops of Kingdom Relation has taken the time to answer questions from the Dutch Senate about the draft Kingdom Disputes Act. The answers sent to the Senate today show that the (often critical) questions from the political factions of VVD, GroenLinks, D66, the PVV, the SP, the ChristenUnie and the SGP did not change the minister's thoughts.
The most pressing comment came from the PVV: that party wondered what the dispute settlement is worth if it is the Kingdom Council of Ministers (RMR), dominated by Dutch ministers, that has the final say. According to the bill, the judgments of the Kingdom Disputes Division to be formed (as part of the Council of State) will have the character of an advice that the RMR can disregard.
Knops: “The possibility to deviate is explicitly intended as an exception to the main rule. In essence, the proposal therefore creates a regulation in which an independent third party, namely the Kingdom Disputes Division, is given the authority to assess administrative disputes between the Kingdom and a Caribbean country designated by the proposal.”
The Undersecretary acknowledges that it is precisely on this point that Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten have serious objections because the bill unilaterally designed by the Netherlands does not provide for binding dispute settlement. “This is because, in the government's opinion, developments may occur in practice within the Kingdom that justify a broader perspective than that of a single legal judgment in a specific case.”
The Senate has previously expressed its intention to consider the bill as soon as possible after receiving Knops' answers.