On August 29, 2016, at the University of St. Martin, there will be the third law lecture in the series, “The Law Matters to You,” a project by the Department of Communication and University of St. Martin.
The lecture will be on the Parliamentary Elections 2016 and the Electoral Laws of St. Maarten. There will be two main speakers on the issue; Bert Hofman, Chairman of the Electoral Council and Jason R. Rogers of the Central Voting Bureau.
The Electoral Council, based on their website: www.ecsxm.org, “is an essential part of the country’s electoral procedure. The Electoral Council, which operated for the first time in 2014 Parliamentary Elections, is charged with enforcing the law on the registration and financing of political parties. The Electoral Council functions independently, and is comparable to the other High Councils of State.”
The Chairman of this council will speak at the “Law Matters to You” at USM. Mr. Hofman, who completed his study in Dutch Law at Leiden University, has experience in legislative and administrative law, relating to transport, at the Ministry of Transport, The Netherlands.
From 1995 to 2004, Hofman worked as a Legal Adviser to Government of St. Maarten and was an Interim Head of the Department of Legislation & Legal Affairs. In 2005, he was admitted to the Bar and began practicing with a private law firm on St. Maarten. Hofman has extended Administrative support to the Island Territory of St. Eustatius. He is former president of the Rotary Club of St. Maarten and former Dean of the Bar Association on St. Maarten.
The members and substitute members of the Electoral Council were appointed by national decree for a period of seven (7) years, considering their relevant expertise and experience. The appointments are based on the recommendation of the nomination committee, which consists of the president of the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, the Vice-Chair of the Council of Advice and the Chair of the General Audit Chamber.