Curaçao advances bid for Caribbean rep. on Kingdom’s Supreme Court

WILLEMSTAD--Curaçao has pushed forward with a plan to secure dedicated representation for the Kingdom’s Caribbean countries on the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the apex court that serves civil, criminal, and tax cases for the entire Kingdom, including Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Saba, Statia and Bonaire.

Justice Minister Shalten Hato proposed that a working group be formed to draft recommendations, with potential candidates identified by January 2026 and a formal proposal delivered by June 2026. Curaçao will act as both chair and secretary of this group, while other constituent countries are expected to submit their responses as part of the lead-up to the Judicial Four-Country Consultation scheduled for January 2026.

The move is part of a broader debate over legal equality in the Kingdom, particularly concerning who may practice before the Supreme Court in cassation proceedings. At present, lawyers from Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and the Caribbean Netherlands cannot automatically act as cassation lawyers in civil cases. Those wishing to bring cassation cases must retain a specialized Dutch cassation lawyer, a requirement that has long been criticized as both expensive and restrictive.

In April 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the current rules, noting that in the European Netherlands cassation lawyers must complete extensive specialized training, undergo continuous professional development, and are automatically enrolled in the Dutch Bar Association. Since such a system does not yet exist in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, the Court found it reasonable that Caribbean lawyers could not automatically qualify as cassation lawyers in civil cases. At the same time, however, the Court emphasized that new rules and oversight mechanisms should eventually be developed so that Caribbean lawyers may gain access to this specialized field.

Curaçao’s proposal also draws on Article 23 of the Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which grants Caribbean countries the option to request the appointment of an additional or advisory member to the Supreme Court. The aim is to ensure that rulings consider the specific social and legal realities of the Caribbean jurisdictions. The Charter itself establishes that civil and criminal law, procedural law, and related areas should, as far as possible, be harmonized among all countries of the Kingdom: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint Maarten.

The push for representation comes at a time when the judicial architecture of the Dutch Caribbean is under heightened attention. The region already operates with a Combined Court of Justice for Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, and the Caribbean Netherlands, which handles first-instance cases and appeals, while judgments may ultimately be brought before the Supreme Court in The Hague. Many in the Caribbean legal community argue that having a representative on the Supreme Court would be a vital step toward more equitable treatment, increased representation, and decisions that reflect the context of Caribbean societies.

The working group chaired by Curaçao is expected to deliver its first recommendations in January 2026, followed by formal advice to the four governments in June 2026. The process reflects a growing recognition within the Kingdom that the judiciary must be not only legally binding but also representational and sensitive to the conditions of all its constituent parts.