WILLEMSTAD, THE HAGUE – Curaçao’s governing MFK party has raised serious concerns about a Dutch proposal to extend the legal basis for Kingdom regulations introduced outside the normal parliamentary process, warning that measures originally intended to be temporary should not automatically become permanent.
The proposed Kingdom legislation is needed because the Dutch government was unable, within the deadline set by the Dutch Parliament, to obtain the necessary approval from the parliaments of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten and both chambers of the Dutch Parliament. MFK’s position will now form part of the further parliamentary consideration of the proposal.
MFK acknowledges that creating a statutory basis for existing General Measures of Kingdom Administration, known in Dutch as Algemene Maatregelen van Rijksbestuur or AMvRBs, may be necessary to ensure legal certainty and continuity. However, the party argues that existing arrangements should not automatically receive permanent legal status simply because they are already in place.
According to the MFK faction, each measure should be evaluated separately. Among the questions that should be answered are whether the original reason for introducing the measure still exists, whether it remains necessary and reasonable, and whether there is still justification for maintaining it at the Kingdom level.
The party is particularly concerned about arrangements introduced as part of the constitutional restructuring of October 10, 2010. MFK argues that if these measures have already partly or completely achieved their objectives, regulations originally intended as temporary should not become permanent without sufficient justification. The explanatory memorandum accompanying the proposal itself acknowledges that some measures have partly or fully achieved their objectives.
While MFK is prepared to support giving the arrangements a legal foundation for reasons of continuity and legal certainty, the faction stresses that this should not be interpreted as a “carte blanche” to expand or permanently maintain consensus Kingdom laws dealing with matters that fall under the responsibility of the individual countries.
“Consensus Kingdom laws must continue to mean that all parties agree,” the faction stated.
MFK says cooperation within the Kingdom should be based on equality, necessity and respect for the autonomy of each country. It has therefore asked the Dutch government to explain, for each individual AMvRB, why maintaining the arrangement remains necessary and what criteria were used to reach that conclusion.
The faction also wants to know when the Kingdom government would consider changing or terminating measures that have already achieved their original objectives.
Curaçao’s position is specifically highlighted because, according to the explanatory documents, the plans of approach established for Curaçao following the 2010 constitutional reforms have already been completed. Sint Maarten, by contrast, still has ongoing plans concerning detention and the police.
MFK is therefore questioning why Curaçao should remain bound to the same cooperation arrangement. The faction wants the minister to clarify whether Curaçao can withdraw from the arrangement if the country has already met the objectives for which it was originally established.
The debate touches on the broader and longstanding question of how Kingdom cooperation should balance legal continuity and joint oversight with the constitutional autonomy of Curaçao, Aruba and Sint Maarten.