French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin confirms autonomous court and new prison for St. Martin

MARIGOT--On Friday, December 5, Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin visited St. Martin, where he toured the construction site of the new administrative and judicial complex (CITAJ). He was accompanied by President of the Collectivité Louis Mussington, Senator Annick Pétrus, Member of Parliament Frantz Gumbs, and several magistrates. At the conclusion of the visit, the minister formally confirmed that a fully fledged judicial court will be created for the territories of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, a long awaited step for local officials that is expected to materialize within two years.

“I am very pleased to see that barely two years after my announcement, there is now a fully fledged prefecture here in St. Maarten," Darmanin said. For him, the establishment of an autonomous court is the natural follow up to this institutional recognition. The future courthouse is in its final construction phase and is expected to be inaugurated next summer. This new court will replace the current local jurisdiction and will benefit from its own resources and a complete internal organization, in line with the creation of the full prefecture decided in 2022.

Darmanin also underlined the need to adapt prison policy to the local context. Around sixty residents of Saint-Martin are currently incarcerated in Guadeloupe, a situation he considers harmful to their reintegration and difficult for their families. To change this, the State has committed to building a 60 place prison facility on the island, on land provided by the Collectivité. Intended for people in pretrial detention or serving sentences of less than two years, this small remand prison is meant to allow detainees to serve their sentences closer to their relatives while helping to relieve overcrowding in Guadeloupe’s prisons. The facility is scheduled to come into service in the summer of 2026.

The minister recalled that the government has already begun increasing justice staff in the overseas territories, particularly in the Antilles, and stated that he wants to continue along this path in Saint-Martin so that judicial resources keep pace with population growth and with the economic and tourism development of the territory. Louis Mussington welcomed these announcements and confirmed that the Collectivité had acted quickly to make suitable land available so the project could be launched.

Darmanin’s stop in St. Martin was part of a broader tour of the Antilles. On Saturday, he was in Saint-Barthélemy for a meeting dedicated to drug trafficking in the Caribbean basin. On Sunday and Monday, he traveled to Guadeloupe, where he inaugurated the new remand prison in Basse-Terre. The minister is currently in Martinique.

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