Politics
Sigmar Carmelia installed as president of the Joint Court of Justice
Sigmar Carmelia was formally installed on 16 October 2026 as president of the Joint Court of Justice, which hears appeals from Sint Maarten and the other Dutch Caribbean islands. He succeeds Mauritsz de Kort, now Governor of Curaçao.
By SXM Daily ·
Sigmar Carmelia was formally installed as president of the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba on Friday, 16 October 2026, at a ceremony in Willemstad, Curaçao, Antilliaans Dagblad reported.
Illustrative: the Courthouse on Front Street in Philipsburg, home to the Joint Court's Sint Maarten office. Photo: Piviso / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
According to the newspaper, dignitaries from all of the islands attended. The prosecutors general of Aruba and of Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the BES islands spoke, as did the dean of the Curaçao Bar Association. Curacao.nu, which also covered the ceremony, reported that it took place during an extraordinary session of the court.
Carmelia tied his speech to World Food Day, which fell on the same day. "Just as food nourishes our body and oxygen keeps us alive, law and justice give our society the strength to function and develop," he said, according to Antilliaans Dagblad. He added that a just society "does not come about by itself" and that the law "must be applied in practice and be accessible to everyone." (Translated from Dutch by SXM Daily.)
The appointment
The Dutch government announced on 24 April 2026 that Carmelia would be appointed president after the Kingdom Council of Ministers agreed to his nomination. He has been a member or deputy member of the Joint Court since 2014. Before that, he was a deputy judge and cantonal judge at the Gelderland district court in the Netherlands, a lawyer, and a legal adviser at the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights.
He succeeds Mauritsz de Kort, who was the court's president until 4 November 2025 and who was appointed Governor of Curaçao, according to the same Dutch government release.
Why it matters for Sint Maarten
The Joint Court hears appeals against decisions of the Courts in First Instance on the islands, including Sint Maarten, with three of its members sitting on each appeal, according to the court's website. Its Sint Maarten office is in the Courthouse on Front Street in Philipsburg.
Sources
- https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/actueel/nieuws/2026/04/24/benoeming-president-en-nieuwe-leden-bij-gemeenschappelijk-hof-van-justitie
- https://antilliaansdagblad.com/artikel/curacao/20261016/recht-is-als-voedsel
- https://www.curacao.nu/nieuws/politie-justitie/97385/nieuwe-hofpresident-carmelia-wil-meer-lokaal-juridisch-talent-en-toegankelijkere-rechtspraak
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