President of Parliament drs. Gracita Arrindell said that the Legal and Legislation Department of the Government of Sint Maarten along with Parliament, will be working closely to get copies of the laws from the former Archives of the Netherlands Antilles.
In a recent meeting between the aforementioned Department and the Arrindell, the latter was briefed Head of the Department of Legal and Legislation Affairs Henk Jan Habermehl and legal specialist Nancy Joubert, that the department has some of the laws, but the majority is still in Curacao.
Parliament has a list of 65 laws that need to be handled from the former Netherlands Antilles. These laws are now applicable to the country.
The Parliamentary Secretariat led by Secretary General Jossy Semeleer will be working with the Legal and Legislation Department to set up a list of priority laws that should be copied and archived.
The seven government ministries also have to indicate their priorities with respect to legislation.
"Building up our national archives is part of the process of building country Sint Maarten. Having these laws in house will allow parliament’s legal expertise to review and give advice to Members of Parliament with respect to which laws need to be revised.
"We have laws on the books that go as far back as the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. A lot has changed over the past 50-years and as MPs we have a responsibility to make sure that our laws are up to par with current trends in socio-economic development and in technology," President of Parliament Gracita Arrindell said on Monday.