It will be interesting to see which direction the continuation of a plenary session of Parliament on amending the Penal Procedure Code tentatively scheduled for Friday takes. Some of the proposed changes are part of what is needed to implement recommendations of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), but several elected representatives on both sides of the aisle have reservations about approving the comprehensive draft legislation now on the table.
Justice Minister Egbert Doran was even asked during a Central Committee meeting on the same issue last week (see related story) whether the sought objectives could not be reached with specific laws. He said isolating these and continuing them in a separate national ordinance would not only be time-consuming but also not in accordance with having a uniform code within the Dutch Caribbean.
What’s more, the CFTAF secretariat, which is working with the local government on still-lacking compliance with recommendations 23 and 35, enquired about the status of the Penal Procedure Code. Passing it will bring the country one step closer to getting out of the third round of the evaluation and into the fourth round where all others including Aruba and Curaçao already are.
With St. Maarten having been given a public statement last year, only showing acceptable progress by May in this matter can probably prevent being labelled as a “high risk” jurisdiction, with all possible consequences for doing business with the international community. Central Bank director Jose Jardim in today’s edition even says being blacklisted would shut down St. Maarten’s tourism economy.
It’s not for nothing that Governor Eugene Holiday has more than once highlighted the importance of timely compliance, including in the main tasks for both the current interim cabinet and the new incoming one expected to take office soon. At this stage adopting the draft code seems the only realistic scenario to meet the deadline set.
If things go wrong and Jardim is proven right, those who wish to delay that process any longer can expect to be held accountable.
