PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — Upon taking office in March of this year, Minister of Justice the Hon. Anna E. Richardson made the Ministry of Justice Function Books her number one priority. Minister Richardson set a target goal to have the internal handling of the Function Book complete before 2021, and is pleased to announce that this goal has been achieved.
The Ministry of Justice Function Book has been an unresolved matter since 10-10-10 and has contributed to various challenges (also legally) within the Ministry of Justice. The Function Book regulates an important part of the legal status of each civil servant. It ultimately defines their position, task, responsibilities and their salary scales.
Minister Richardson would like to express her gratitude to the Project Group comprising of a Steering Committee and a Work Group that was installed on September 4th 2020. The Steering Committee consist of the Ministers General Affairs, Justice and Finance and their respective SG’s and the Work Group consist of key civil servants from the Ministry of General Affairs, Finance, and Justice.
After several months of dedicated hard work the Ministry of Justice Function Book was turned over to the Committee of Civil Servants Unions (‘CCSU’) today, Tuesday, December 22nd 2020. The ‘CCSU’ now has 6 weeks to review and render their advice.
During the Committee of Justice meeting in Parliament on Monday, December 14th, 2020, Minister Richardson made mention of the CCSU’s proactive approach in requesting an additional 2 weeks to review the Function book, this statement was also published by the Daily Herald.
As a point of clarification, the request in question was for an extension to review the change pertaining to the National Ordinance Police and the LIOL to better regulate the position National Detectives and to insert the Court of Guardianship in Government’s structure. As such, an extension period was granted to them until Friday, January 15th, 2021.
Once this step is completed the Function Book will enter into the legislative process where it will go to the Council of Advice, thereafter it can be enacted through “National Decree” by His Excellency Eugene Holiday.
Minister Richardson is pleased with the progress made and classified it as a milestone for the Ministry of Justice and its employees.
