GREAT BAY--St. Maarten will host the next session of the Judicial Four Country consultation from January 14 to 16, 2026, bringing the justice ministers of Aruba, Curaรงao, St. Maarten, and the Netherlands together to review joint priorities. The Dutch Minister of Justice and Security submitted the latest report on the consultation to the Dutch House of Representatives on Monday, outlining decisions and follow up from the September 11, 2025 meeting in The Hague.
The consultation focuses on a coordinated approach to justice and security within the Kingdom. Ministers confirmed continued cooperation against organized and subversive crime, including an inventory of current operations that target drug flows into and through the Kingdom. That inventory will inform the January agenda, where ministers will decide whether to adjust, intensify, or add measures. The update also noted the work of the Caribbean Undermining Platform, which produces shared criminal intelligence products to improve insight into cross border criminal activity and support joint actions.
Capacity and care were central items. The countries are moving ahead with a multi year program to strengthen forensic care, treatment, and youth measures, including TBS and PIJ. A program manager will be recruited to set shared objectives, prepare an integrated program plan, and support phased country plans. Kingdom wide training initiatives are expected, with Dutch financing where projects fall within the programโs scope. Progress on these steps will be reviewed when the ministers meet on St. Maarten in January.
The report confirms the continuation of the Officer in Training program for the Public Prosecutorโs Office in the Caribbean. Four trainees have completed the track, a fifth is expected to finish by the end of 2025, and a new three year cycle has been approved. The aim is to build local prosecution capacity and reduce dependence on personnel from the European Netherlands over time.
Ministers recorded the withdrawal of a 2006 guardianship protocol that had required a temporary guardian for unaccompanied minors relocating from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom to the European Netherlands. The obligation is removed, reflecting digital developments and the lack of an objective basis for a different treatment based on origin. The consultation also reviewed ongoing work to harmonize personal data protection, aligning Kingdom legislation with Convention 108 plus to ensure a sound legal basis for responsible data sharing.
Governance items were addressed as well. The ministers discussed annual plans, reports, and budgets for joint institutions and services, including the Joint Court of Justice, the Office of the Prosecutor General, the Council for Law Enforcement, the RST, and the ICT foundation for law enforcement. Timely adoption of these documents remains important for continuity and performance across the system.
St. Maarten will welcome its Kingdom partners in January. The session will take stock of the drug flow inventory, the rollout of the forensic care program, the next Officer in Training cycle, the implementation of data protection harmonization, and the status of annual plans and budgets for joint institutions.
๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ง๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต: ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ต. ๐๐ข๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ท๐ข๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ. ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ณ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ข, ๐๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ ๐. ๐๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ขรง๐ข๐ฐ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฐ, ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ฆ.
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https://tribune-site.webflow.io//articles/st-maarten-to-host-jvo-in-january-dutch-minister-files-report-to-parliament-on-monday
