Authorities

The government of Sint Maarten consists of the ministers of Sint Maarten and the King. The Governor of Sint Maarten represents the King in Sint Maarten. As such, he is the head of the government of Sint Maarten. If the Governor attends a meeting of the Council of Ministers of Sint Maarten, he acts as chairman. He then has an advisory vote.

As head of the government, the Governor has the right to be consulted by the ministers, to encourage and to warn the ministers.

Responsibility

The Governor is not politically responsible in either of his two capacities. While he serves as head of the government of Sint Maarten, the ministers of Sint Maarten are accountable to the Parliament of the country.

The Governor is not immune from prosecution. Pursuant to the Regulations for the Governor, he may be convicted by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands for committing official misconduct.

Duties and authorities

As head of the country’s government, the Governor executes the following duties and authorities, among other things:

• Officially validating national ordinances and national decrees;
• Swearing-in of ministers, members of the Parliament of Sint Maarten, members of the Council of Advice and members of the General Audit Chamber. The Governor also swears in certain officials in public administration who are required by law to take the oath or make the declaration and promise in the presence of the Governor;
• Swearing-in of judges, members of the Public Prosecution Service of Sint Maarten, and Sint Maarten commissioners, president and directors of the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten;
• Opening of the parliamentary year on the second Tuesday of September. Here, the policy that the government will implement, is set out;
• The appointment of informateurs and formateurs in the context of the formation of a new government;
• In his role as Chairman of the Council of Advice, the Governor can call meetings whenever he thinks they are needed. If he is present during a meeting, the Governor serves as chairman and has an advisory vote.

As representative of the Kingdom government, the Governor watches over the public interest of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In this role the Governor is accountable to the Kingdom government. The Kingdom government is politically responsible to the States General for the work of the Governor.

Publication of laws and implementation of regulations

The Governor takes care of the announcement in Sint Maarten of Kingdom laws and the General Administrative Order of the Kingdom. The Governor also encourages the implementation of Kingdom regulations and treaties applicable in Sint Maarten.

Supervision

The Governor monitors compliance with Kingdom laws and treaties in Sint Maarten. He will not approve a national ordinance or decree if it violates the rules of the Kingdom or international law, or if it would violate general principles of good administration.

Armed Forces

If the Kingdom Council of Ministers agrees, the Governor may deploy the armed forces of the Kingdom present in Sint Maarten. With permission of the Kingdom Council of Ministers, he may also make parts of the armed forces of the Kingdom present in Sint Maarten available to the government of Sint Maarten. This may be for safeguarding security, maintaining public order, and providing disaster relief.

Other formal legal powers

In addition, as organ of the Kingdom, the Governor is responsible for:

• The issuance of Dutch passports for non-residents of Sint Maarten, emergency passports, and laissez-passers;
• The issuance of visas for the Schengen area;
• The issuance of Caribbean visas for temporary residence (MVV) in the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba);
• The receipt of applications for the Dutch nationality by option or naturalization;
• The provision of advice on, and awarding of, Royal honors;
• Decision-making on whether to extradite persons to another state.