THE HAGUE - The Netherlands allocates 1 million euros annually to take more administrative action in the event of signals of subversion in addition to the criminal law approach. This is what the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius wrote to the House of Representatives in a review of the Four-Country Justice Consultation (JVO):
To flesh out the cooperation between the countries, a working group on administrative approach to undermining was set up. This working group subsequently prepared analyzes for each Caribbean country that were submitted to the JVO. It has been agreed that action plans will be written based on this problem analyzes in order to arrive at an administrative approach to undermining in the countries. The ministers endorsed the importance of this commitment to the administrative approach to undermining. The Dutch Ministry of the Interior earmarks €1 million annually for the elaboration and implementation of these action plans.
On February 24, 2022, the Judicial Four-Party Consultation took place under the chairmanship of Curaçao. The JVO is the six-monthly meeting between the four ministers of Justice of the Kingdom. The consultation took place by video conference. “With this letter I am informing you about the main points of the JVO and, also on behalf of the State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations, about the joint commitment to law enforcement in the Kingdom. This is a follow-up to the recommendations from the policy review of Article 1 of Chapter IV Kingdom Relations,” said the minister.
Main features JVO February 2022
The following topics were discussed during the consultations between the ministers:
Cooperation in tackling cross-border crime
During this JVO, together with the ministers of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten, follow-up steps were taken in tackling cross-border crime. For example, agreements have been made in the field of investigative cooperation in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom; in the field of financial and economic crime; and information exchange.
Regarding investigative cooperation in the fight against cross-border crime, the policy for the coming years has been determined on the basis of a crime picture analysis for 2022-2023. Special attention was paid to the impact of the pandemic on transnational crime in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, the security situation in Venezuela, developments in criminal undermining in the countries concerned and their consequences for the investigation. It was established that the pandemic has not caused a trend break, but has increased risks for corruption, money laundering and cybercrime.
Rapid and secure exchange of information between countries is of great importance for the investigation of transnational crime. The police forces in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom have been investing for some time in optimizing the information processes for this exchange and sharing. This cooperation in the field of information should provide better insight into the criminal relations between the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and the Netherlands.
Over the past six months, the Board of Chiefs of Police has worked together with the Information Coordination project group and the Platform Heads of Information Organization Carib (PHIOC) on concretizing an action plan for the further development of information organizations in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The Netherlands has made 2.5 million euros available (for three years from 2022) to optimize the information exchange between all countries. With this, information nodes in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and the inter-island information coordination point facilitated by the RST can be strengthened, training can be provided and investments in ICT facilities can be made.
When it comes to international cooperation in the fight against cross-border crime, the then Minister of Justice and Security signed on behalf of the Kingdom in 2021 a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance and the Treaty on Extradition between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These treaties have been concluded in order to be able to tackle financial and economic crime throughout the Kingdom. During the JVO, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten indicated that they deem additional aid desirable.
Regional cooperation police and fire brigade
The importance of regional police cooperation was discussed during the JVO. The Netherlands has structurally made financial resources available for police cooperation between the five police forces within the Kingdom. A renewed cooperation agreement in the field of fire service, crisis management and disaster relief in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom was also discussed. This will be put on the agenda for adoption in the JVO of June 2022 at the latest.
Sanction application
The Taskforce Detention, an international working group aimed at improving detention conditions and cooperation between penitentiary institutions in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, has presented a project plan to the JVO in which a pool of rotating PI employees can participate in other penitentiary institutions within the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom to exchange operational business experience and knowledge. The proposal for twinning between the islands stems from the need to improve the detention environment; to work on more uniformity; and creating a consistent partnership in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The representatives of the islands in the Taskforce opted for twinning at the Judicial Institution Caribbean Netherlands (JICN) in Bonaire as the receiving location. The visiting institutions must provide the necessary budget and capacity for this themselves. The JICN provides mediation for housing and car rental. The ministers have approved the project plan and the associated cost description and have promised to make room for this in the budget.
In addition, the JVO discussed the realization of forensic care for juveniles and adults, both in detention and ambulatory, in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. By making this possible, it can be prevented that offenders with psychological problems return to society untreated. When transfer to the Netherlands is required for forensic treatment, this will be more effective if work can be done on reintegration and rehabilitation with aftercare options upon return to the region. A working group will work on developing an action plan to realize forensic care for minors and adults in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
Prevention
To prevent young people from ending up in (organized) crime, the countries jointly take action to prevent both perpetrators and victims. The Netherlands has been providing support for this approach for several years by deploying preventive judicial behavioral interventions such as “Only you determine who you are” and the Leerorkest. At the initiative of Sint Maarten, it has now been agreed in the JVO to set up a working group that will explore further cooperation options for the prevention of juvenile crime within the Kingdom.
“In short, we work closely with the countries within the Kingdom to fight crime and strengthen the rule of law and security. For the Netherlands, this cooperation with the countries in the Caribbean region and its discussion in the JVO is essential, partly in view of the responsibility for the justice chain in the Caribbean Netherlands. I am therefore looking forward to continuing the very broad and special collaboration,” says the minister.
The next JVO will take place under the chairmanship of the Netherlands on June 28 and 29, 2022 in Bonaire.