Introduction

Sint Maarten’s society is governed by law. As part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands Sint Maarten has three levels of government. Each level of government is authorized to issue rules and regulations.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands establishes the kingdom laws which are valid for two or more countries in the Kingdom. These are approved by the Parliament of the Kingdom according to the procedures laid down in the Charter of the Kingdom (Statuut) and established by the monarch. At present the monarch of the Kingdom is Queen Beatrix.

The Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles approves the laws that are valid for the five islands that constitute the Netherlands Antilles according to the procedures laid down in the Constitution (Staatsregeling). These laws are established by the Governor General as the representative of the Queen. The government of the Netherlands Antilles is authorized to approve regulations entailing general measures. These are also established by the Governor General.

The Island Council of Sint Maarten can establish ordinances for Sint Maarten within the authorities granted by the Island Regulations of the Netherlands Antilles (Eilandenregeling Nederlandse Antillen) which governs the relationship between the central government and the island territories. The ordinances are promulgated by the Lt. Governor. The Executive Council is authorized to establish island regulations entailing general measures. These are also promulgated by the Lt. Governor.

On this page the laws valid for Sint Maarten can be accessed. This is a work in progress. At the moment the majority of laws and regulations are available in Dutch. In future translations in English will be provided.

DISCLAIMER: The texts made available here are for information purposes only. The utmost care is taken to ensure the texts are correct. However, the promulgated text remains the official text.