WILLEMSTAD – PNP Member of Parliament Sheldry Osepa is demanding answers from the Pisas government over its failure to execute court rulings in civil service cases, as 17 current and former public employees head to court Tuesday seeking enforcement of earlier judgments.
The 17 cases are being heard jointly on October 6. The Court of First Instance previously said the increasing number of cases involving government authorities failing to comply with judgments touches directly on the rule of law in Curaçao. The employees are seeking penalty payments to compel the Country of Curaçao to carry out decisions previously issued in their favor.
Osepa has directed questions to Minister of Governance, Planning and Public Service (BPD) Shalten Hato, describing it as unacceptable for a government operating under the rule of law to disregard judicial decisions.
According to local reports, Osepa argues that when the government disagrees with a judgment, it should use the available appeals process rather than simply failing to execute the ruling. He wants Hato to disclose exactly how many judgments remain outstanding and how much the government's failure to comply has cost taxpayers in penalty payments, legal fees and other expenses.
The controversy follows a July report by the Curaçao Ombudsman that concluded that delayed and incomplete compliance with final judgments of the civil service court has become a structural problem within government. The investigation covered the period from April 1, 2020 through March 31, 2025.
The Ombudsman's findings provide a broader picture than the 17 cases now before the court. During the period examined, civil servants brought 1,597 cases before the court. Of these, 154 specifically concerned the government's failure to make a decision or respond to a request, while 15 were proceedings under Article 96 of the Civil Servants Court Procedure Regulation concerning failure to execute earlier judgments.
An anonymous survey conducted as part of the investigation found that 62.5 percent of respondents said the government had not executed the relevant court ruling in accordance with its contents. Another 18.75 percent reported partial compliance, while only 6.25 percent said the ruling had been fully implemented as ordered. The survey involved 18 current or former civil servants affected by the issue.
The Ministry of Justice was most frequently identified in the survey, accounting for 29.41 percent of reported non-compliance cases. BPD and the Ministry of Health, Environment and Nature (GMN) each accounted for 17.65 percent.
The Ombudsman also found that delays can be extensive. In 64.71 percent of the cases reported by respondents, the government exceeded the court-imposed deadline by more than one year. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said the failure to execute the judgment caused them direct financial harm.
According to the Ombudsman, there is currently no centralized digital system within government specifically registering and monitoring civil service court judgments. Ministries largely operate independently, and there is no complete overview of the current status of outstanding cases. The investigation also identified a lack of standardized procedures and insufficient legal and administrative capacity as contributing factors.
The Ombudsman further reported that BPD did not provide the requested information during the investigation despite several reminders and did not submit a substantive response to the preliminary findings. The watchdog concluded that the failure to execute final judgments creates avoidable expenses because penalty payments, compensation and court costs ultimately have to be paid from public funds.
Osepa is now calling for greater parliamentary oversight. He wants the government to provide the Curaçao Parliament with a quarterly report showing how many court rulings remain outstanding and the status of their execution.
The 17 cases being heard Tuesday could bring additional clarity. The court has indicated that it wants the government to explain why ministries and other public authorities have not always carried out judicial orders and whether previously imposed penalty payments have actually been paid.