WILLEMSTAD – The Council of Ministers has approved preparations for Curaçao to join a new international extradition agreement designed to speed up the transfer of wanted suspects between countries and strengthen the fight against cross-border crime.
The agreement concerns the Fourth Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Extradition, an international treaty aimed at modernizing extradition procedures among participating countries.
Under the proposed protocol, extradition requests would no longer need to pass exclusively through traditional diplomatic channels. Instead, requests could be exchanged directly between judicial authorities, significantly reducing the time required to process extradition cases.
The protocol also introduces the possibility of transmitting official documents electronically through secure channels, allowing authorities to handle arrest warrants, extradition requests, and supporting documentation more efficiently.
According to Minister of Justice Shalten Hato, ratification of the protocol is an important step toward modernizing international legal cooperation and improving the ability of law enforcement agencies to combat transnational crime.
Authorities believe the changes will help accelerate the arrest and transfer of fugitives who attempt to evade justice by crossing international borders.
The modernization comes at a time when criminal investigations increasingly involve multiple jurisdictions, requiring faster and more effective cooperation between police, prosecutors, and courts in different countries.
For Curaçao, which serves as an important hub within the Caribbean region and maintains extensive international legal cooperation agreements, faster extradition procedures could enhance efforts to combat organized crime, drug trafficking, money laundering, human trafficking, and other cross-border offenses.
The decision by the Council of Ministers marks the beginning of the ratification process. Additional legal and parliamentary steps are expected before the protocol can formally enter into force for Curaçao.
If implemented, the new framework would align Curaçao more closely with modern international standards for judicial cooperation and extradition procedures, reducing administrative delays and improving the efficiency of international law enforcement collaboration.