Office633. Since the constitutional and Kingdom Act provisions are strictly formulated, and an amendment requires consensus of all countries in the Kingdom involved, the possibilities of amending them are limited. The minister of justice has a strong position in the system. This is not only because he may issue General Directives (Algemene Aanwijzingen)634 to the office of the Prosecutor General about its prosecution policy. His position is especially strong because the minister of justice may also issue Specific Directives (Bijzondere Aanwijzingen),635 although these do have to pass the Joint Court of Justice before they become valid. The Joint Court has to examine whether such a specific instruction is in accordance with the law (written and unwritten). Only after the intended instruction has passed this test may it be issued by the minister of justice. The minister of justice is not authorised to exercise his powers in individual cases.
Independence (practice) Score: 50 TO WHAT EXTENT ARE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES INDEPENDENT IN PRACTICE?
Not all law enforcement agencies operate with a high degree of independence because they are under financial control of the government. Moreover, there have been some concerns about the inference of government in the dismissal of chiefs of police.The independency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office has been called into question a few times, but there are no indications that the independence is at risk. According to several experts from the law enforcement agencies (Police Force Curaçao and the special police force) they can’t operate independently because ‘their’ budget remains at the discretion of the minster of justice.636 In practice they remain highly dependent on the ministers of justice and finance to obtain sufficient resources to fulfill their needs. Regarding appointments, in practice there have been several examples of chiefs of police who, after a change in government, were removed or transferred for unspecified reasons. The reasons for removing or transferring are not always clear. There have been several court cases in this respect.637 There are, as far as could be determined in this assessment, no examples of public prosecutors being removed or transferred due to the content of their decisions. It is highly exceptional for public prosecutors to be removed before the end of their term. If public prosecutors are discredited because of their own conduct, they usually resign. Moreover, in practice it is quite difficult to suspend or dismiss a public prosecutor. This has both advantages and disadvantages. The independence is adequately safeguarded, but when somebody is not performing adequately it is also very difficult to dismiss or remove that person. Several professionals expressed their serious concerns about the role of the procurator general together with the minister of justice.638 They question whether a procurator general in such a small 633
Kingdom Act Public Prosecutors Offices, 2010, No. 336, Articles 9-15. Ibid, Article 13.1. 635 Ibid Article 13.2. 636 Country ordinance Government accounts, 2010, 87, Article 39. Also: Annual report Landsrecherche 2012, Curacao April 2013, p.4. 637 Dismissal Chief of Police Anthony Willems not fair, 22 August 2006, via www.korps-politiesuriname.com [accessed 6 March 2013]. See also: Casseres versus the government in court, 16 April 2011 via www.antiliaansdagblad.com [accessed 6 March. 2013]. 638 Jan M. Reijntjes, Curacao on the threshold of autonomy: the miners’ strike of 1955: A private Procurator General for Curacao (Curaçao op de drempel van de autonomie, de mijnstaking van 1955 of: Een eigen PG voor Curaçao) (Nijmegen: 2012), p 58. 634
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NATIONAL INTEGRITY SYSTEM ASSESSMENT CURAÇAO