The landmark High Court verdict in The Hague legalising same-sex marriage in Curaçao and Aruba (see related story) was not unexpected. The solicitor general had already recommended confirming an earlier decision to that effect by the Joint Court for the Dutch Caribbean and such advice is usually followed.
The two countries could not deny that limiting civil marriage to couples of the opposite sex goes against anti-discrimination based on gender in their own constitutions. They therefore argued mainly that judges must not sit in the chair of elected representatives and should leave this matter up to their respective parliaments.
While acknowledging the need for restraint from intervening in the legislative process, the ruling said interests of those involved to organise their lives as desired weighed heavier. It found that not only had this legal deficit existed for some time, but a registered partnership offered to gay couples in Aruba is not a full-fledged alternative, because the institute of marriage has “intrinsic” value.
St. Maarten was not a party in this case, but as it regards the Joint Court for the entire Dutch Caribbean and the High Court for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the jurisprudence now created also applies locally. Like it or not, gay couples will consequently soon be getting married here too.
As stated in the column before, in that sense the writing is on the wall.
