BONAIRE — The integrity of employees within the justice system is an important prerequisite for trust in the rule of law. Justice personnel have access to sensitive information, often hold far-reaching powers, and work in positions where reliability is essential. For that reason, careful, timely, and complete screening is of great importance.
The Law of Enforcement Council has conducted an investigation into the screening of justice personnel in the Caribbean Netherlands. The investigation focused on the Public Prosecutor’s Office BES, the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force, the Caribbean Netherlands Correctional Institution, the Caribbean Netherlands Child Protection Board, and the Caribbean Netherlands Probation Foundation.
The Council concludes that the current screening of justice personnel at the organizations investigated in the Caribbean Netherlands falls short and entails significant integrity risks. The current legal and organizational framework for screening no longer meets the requirements that justice organizations may and must set for a careful, timely, and complete assessment of the reliability of current and future employees. As a result, integrity risks cannot be fully identified, including on a periodic basis. This leads to unacceptable vulnerabilities that put pressure on the functioning and credibility of justice organizations in the Caribbean Netherlands.
It also occurs that employees start work before the screening process has been fully completed. As a result, individuals without complete screening may gain access to confidential information. The Council also notes that existing legal possibilities are not being used sufficiently. For example, police data are not included in the assessment of a Certificate of Good Conduct in practice, even though this is possible under certain conditions. In addition, the Caribbean Netherlands does not have a variant of the Certificate of Good Conduct based on police data, while such a more stringent form of screening has already applied in the European Netherlands since 2022 for certain positions within justice organizations. It also occurs that employees start work before the screening process has been fully completed. As a result, individuals without complete screening may gain access to confidential information.
Regarding the Caribbean Netherlands Police Force, the Council observes that the ministerial regulation that should have further elaborate reliability investigations — a more stringent form of screening specifically for the police — is still lacking. The Council qualifies this as negligence on the part of the Minister of Justice and Security, who is also the administrator of the police force. As a result, there is still no elaborate and legally safeguarded framework available for the screening of police personnel. Consequently, most police officers have not yet undergone this form of screening.
According to the Law of Enforcement Council, central direction is also lacking. The organizations involved endorse the importance of this and recognize the current limitations of screening in the Caribbean Netherlands, but in practice it is insufficiently clear who is responsible for what. The Council therefore calls on the Minister of Justice and Security to take central direction and to make clear and binding agreements with all parties involved.
Partly in view of the conclusions and the risks identified, the Council will closely monitor the follow-up to the recommendations and keep itself informed about progress.
The inspection report can be read on the website of the Council for Law Enforcement:
https://www.raadrh.com/reports-bes
