WILLEMSTAD – The Ombudsman of Curaçao has ruled that Minister of Justice Shalton Hato acted improperly by failing to respond for nearly two years to a request from six police officers to have their job descriptions reviewed and re-evaluated.
The officers submitted their request on March 2, 2023, asking for a reassessment of their positions. Such procedures can be initiated within the civil service when employees believe their duties no longer correspond with their official job description. The request was forwarded through the chief of police of the Curaçao Police Force to the Minister of Justice.
According to the Ombudsman’s investigation, the officers did not receive a substantive response until September 2024. After repeated attempts to obtain clarity about the status of their request, the officers filed a complaint with the Ombudsman.
During the investigation, the Ombudsman’s office also contacted the Ministry of Justice several times requesting information about how the matter was being handled. Initially, those requests also went unanswered.
In its report, the Ombudsman concluded that the ministry failed to meet its obligation to handle requests and complaints from citizens and civil servants in a careful and timely manner. Public authorities, the report states, are expected to act transparently and keep those involved informed about the progress of their requests.
By allowing the matter to remain unanswered for such a long period, the minister did not comply with the standards of proper governance, the Ombudsman said.
The complaint filed by the police officers has therefore been declared well-founded.
The Ombudsman has recommended that the Minister of Justice provide a written response to the officers’ request and clarify how the process of reviewing and re-evaluating their job descriptions will be handled. The minister has been given twelve weeks to respond.