(Philipsburg, Sint Maarten) – Three of the seven recommendations that the Law Enforcement Council made in a 2014 report following an inspection of the subject of criminal confiscations in Sint Maarten were fully executed. Four recommendations were partly followed.
Focus of the 2014 inspection was on the procedure with regard to the management of confiscated items and to what extent the security and transparency of the management of these items were safeguarded. On the basis of the findings from that report, seven recommendations were formulated to improve the process of criminal confiscation. In 2019, five years after the report was published, the Council evaluated in its review report in what manner the Minister of Justice and the involved organisations gave follow-up to the seven recommendations made by the Council.
In the review report, the Council concluded on the basis of its findings that of the seven recommendations made three recommendations were fully followed and four recommendations were partially followed. The minister and the organisations concerned have followed three recommendations in the field of process description, the list of confiscations and the supervisory task with regard to the destruction of high-risk items. For the four partly followed recommendations, steps have been taken in the desired direction in the field of storage of large objects, the establishment of the function book of the Sint Maarten Police Force (KPSM), informing about confiscation and the handling of seized items. Although the overall follow-up of the recommendation on the function book will take more time in view of the gravity of the matter and the associated (legislative) procedures and implementation, the Council is optimistic that the overall follow-up of the other recommendations can still be possible in a relatively short time. The Council will closely monitor the developments.
In accordance with the legal procedures, this review report was presented to the Minister of Justice more than six weeks ago to allow him to provide the report, accompanied by his reaction, to the Parliament of Sint Maarten. The review report is currently published on the website of the Law Enforcement Council: www.raadrechtshandhaving.com or http://rrh-sxm.org.
