Agreement between all Kingdom Partners
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams signed the Administrative Legislative Consultation Kingdom Relations (AWOK) agreement during Minister of Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk’s visit on Wednesday.
The AWOK is an agreement between all partners within the Kingdom to facilitate the coordination, cooperation and consultation on legal matters related to the partners within the Kingdom. The agreement is also aimed at improving the quality of laws drafted and implemented within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The signing of this agreement will provide a framework in which the Legal Departments and Legal Advisors of all entities within the Kingdom; meaning not only St. Maarten, Curacao and Aruba but also the Netherlands together with Bonaire Saba and St. Eustatius, to coordinate and cooperate on the drafting of laws and legislation," commented the Prime Minister.
Previously there was an agreement that existed in tripartite form between the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba and the Netherlands. Since the constitutional change of the tenth of October 2010 that agreement had to be adjusted to reflect the changes within the Kingdom. Prime Minister Wescot-Williams, Minister Plasterk and the Prime Minister of Curacao Hodge and the Aruban Minister of Justice and Education Dowers signed the joint agreement.