THE HAGUE - When drafting a proposal for a COHO Kingdom Act, a prior legal review took place in the Netherlands, but due to the high time pressure, there was less time than usual for it. Therefore, there was only limited legal testing.
Knops answers questions from D66 Member of Parliament Diertens and PvdA Member of Parliament Kuiken. The parties had asked questions in response to a report that according to the Council of State the Caribbean Body for Reform and Development (Coho) would be in conflict with the Statute.
According to Knops, the bill has been on the table at various ministries. The proposal has been prepared in a legal working group of lawyers from the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Finance, Economic Affairs and Climate and General Affairs. The Ministry of Justice and Security has also carried out a quality test. However, there was considerable time pressure, so the legal review was less extensive than usual.
But, adds Knops, after amendment of the COHO Act based on the advice of the Council of State, this assessment will be repeated.
He also explains that in the case of (consensus) national legislation - such as the COHO Kingdom Act - a responsibility for review also rests with the legal directorates of the Caribbean countries. In the case of the COHO all three Caribbean countries. “With lawyers from Aruba and Curaçao in particular, after no agreement was reached on (the predecessor of) the COHO proposal in the Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of 10 July 2020, intensive discussions were also held about this proposal during the summer and autumn months of 2020.”
The Dutch Undersecretary also points out the role that the Advisory Councils of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten play in the legal review of national legislation. This assessment usually takes place before a proposal is submitted for advice to the Council of State of the Kingdom. And that assessment was also carried out in this case.
When asked whether there would be any consequences for the process already started regarding the implementation of the country packages if the law were to be amended as a result of the (not yet public) advice of the Council of State, Knops replied that there were none.
“Any amendments to the bill of law have no consequences for this process. Such consequences will arise if the countries do not reach consensus regarding the further report and the bill of law. In that case, consensus will automatically lapse on the mutual arrangements concluded between the Netherlands and each of the Caribbean countries regarding country packages."
Finally, the Undersecretary denies that the COHO Kingdom Act would be in conflict with the Statute. “However, the Council has doubts about the compatibility of some parts of the proposal with statutory principles. It is up to the national legislator to determine how these doubts can be dispelled.”