WILLEMSTAD – Curaçao is hosting the justice ministers of Aruba, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands this week for the Justitieel Vierlandenoverleg (JVO), with the four countries expected to address persistent problems ranging from drug and weapons trafficking to prison conditions, youth crime and shortages throughout the justice system.
The three-day consultation began Tuesday, September 1, and continues through Thursday, September 3. Curaçao Justice Minister Shalten Hato is chairing the meeting as representative of the host country.
On Monday, Hato met with Curaçao's delegation for final substantive preparations. According to the minister, the delegation reviewed the most important topics, Curaçao's priorities and the positions the country intends to defend during the discussions.
Hato said Curaçao is entering the JVO prepared to take concrete steps toward strengthening cooperation among the four countries in the area of justice.
While the government has broadly described the meeting as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation, local media reports indicate that several unresolved and potentially difficult issues are on the agenda.
Among them are personnel and capacity shortages throughout the justice chain, conditions in detention facilities, drug and illegal weapons trafficking, youth crime, forensic care and the exchange of judicial information between the countries.
One of the central concerns is what officials describe as an imbalance within the justice system. Strengthening police investigations, for example, has limited effect if prosecutors, courts, prisons or other parts of the criminal justice chain do not have sufficient capacity to handle the additional cases. The four countries have previously agreed to better identify where those shortages exist and what measures are necessary.
The fight against cross-border organized crime is another major issue. Drug shipments, illegal firearms and criminal networks operating between South America, the Caribbean and Europe require cooperation among police forces, prosecutors, customs authorities and other enforcement agencies.
Curaçao Chronicle previously reported that drug routes, illegal weapons and organized crime would be among the important subjects facing the ministers during this week's consultation.
Forensic care also remains unresolved. The Kingdom countries have been working toward a multi-year approach to improve treatment for offenders requiring specialized psychiatric or forensic care. Curaçao continues to face limitations in facilities, specialized personnel and treatment capacity.
Youth crime is another subject carried forward from previous meetings. Curaçao has been leading a Kingdom working group on youth crime, with Aruba serving as secretary, as the countries seek to move from exchanging information toward concrete measures.
The JVO is held twice a year and serves as the principal political forum for the justice ministers of the four countries of the Kingdom to coordinate policy and make agreements on shared law-enforcement challenges. Regional cooperation is considered particularly important because of the relatively small scale of the Caribbean countries and the number of justice organizations and criminal threats that cross national boundaries.
According to the announced schedule, Tuesday is devoted to official-level preparations, followed by a strategic session on Wednesday. The consultation concludes Thursday with the ministerial meeting, when the four justice ministers are expected to make concrete agreements on joint priorities
The previous ministerial JVO took place January 16 in Sint Maarten. Several matters discussed there were carried forward for further action, increasing expectations that this week's meeting in Curaçao will show what progress has actually been made.
Hato said ahead of the meeting that Curaçao is looking forward to constructive discussions and concrete steps that will further strengthen justice cooperation within the Kingdom.