KAREL FRIELINK FULL MEMBER OF STEP
Trust and Estate Practitioner
The Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) was founded in 1991 by George Tasker as a hub for local forums of practitioners. STEP is the international professional body for those who work in the trust industry and the (often overlapping) field of estate administration. Its members are mainly solicitors, barristers, attorneys, accountants, trust officers and trust administrators as well as banking and insurance professionals in the trust field.
The main focus of the organization is to administer the examination process to ensure the quality of the membership, to provide educational and networking opportunities …
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VEROORDELING VERZWEGEN BIJ SOLLICITATIE
Aangenomen maar alsnog ontslagen
Als je solliciteert hoef je niet alles aan je potentiële werkgever te vertellen. Er zijn bovendien onderwerpen waarnaar een werkgever niet eens mag vragen, zoals seksuele geaardheid en of je zwanger bent.
Maar als je strafrechtelijk bent veroordeeld voor valsheid in geschrifte kan dat anders liggen. Dat ondervond X, die solliciteerde voor een belangrijke functie bij een overheidsstichting, maar verzweeg dat hij in hoger beroep was veroordeeld wegens valsheid in geschrifte en zich schuldig had gemaakt aan fraude met gemeenschapsgelden, en dat zijn strafzaak nog in cassatie aanhangig was.
X was door de overheidsstichting aangenomen, en …
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LEGAL DOCUMENTS ARE HARD TO READ DUE TO LEGALESE LANGUAGE
Lawyers must learn to communicate with their clients
Communication skills are particularly important for lawyers. On the one hand lawyers have to accurately debate legal issues with like-skilled/trained people and on the other hand they have to explain all this to people without any legal education, many of which are vulnerable. That is not as easy as it sounds: legalese vs plain language.
I know that many people are dissatisfied and frustrated by lawyers’ communication efforts. I asked one of my networking contacts what she could teach a lawyer / attorney. Her response:
“I have worked with lawyers in my …
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THE CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF ST. MAARTEN
According to constitutional law it is simple and difficult at the same time
The following is simple:
Section 33 Constitution of St. Maarten:
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BEROEPSAANSPRAKELIJKHEID ADVOCAAT
Oordeel Hoge Raad
Op 18 september 2015 wees de Hoge Raad arrest in een zaak waarin een advocaat, wiens BV maat in een maatschap van advocaten is (partner), en een advocaat in dienstbetrekking door een (voormalige) cliënt van de maatschap aansprakelijk waren gesteld vanwege een beroepsfout (ECLI:NL:HR:2015:2745).
De (inmiddels voormalige) cliënt (eiser) had een opdracht verstrekt aan de maatschap van advocaten, en in dat verband ook een opdrachtbevestiging getekend. De aansprakelijk gestelde advocaten, de verweerders (een advocaat die via een eigen BV maat in de maatschap is en een advocaat in dienstbetrekking), hebben de werkzaamheden verricht. En zij zijn aansprakelijk gesteld vanwege een …
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HET STAATSRECHT VAN SINT MAARTEN
Staatsrechtelijk is het simpel en moeilijk tegelijk
Op de Naar mijn mening-pagina is vandaag een stukje geplaatst naar aanleiding van de recente (staatsrechtelijke) ontwikkelingen in Sint Maarten.
Karel Frielink
(14 oktober 2015)
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Ps (16 October 2015)
The second Vice President of Parliament Hon. Cornelius de Weever, on Thursday, 15th October, has sent a letter to the Members of Parliament (MPs) requesting additional information with respect to a convocation for an urgent meeting of the House of Parliament.
I have taken note of your Convocation for an urgent meeting of Parliament …
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THE DIFFICULTY OF ENFORCING JUDGMENTS
Michael Redman on the challenges of enforcing judgments
Michael Redman of Burford Capital has written an interesting article on the challenges of enforcing judgments, which was published in the October 2015 issue of Litigation Funding (click here).
As far as the Dutch Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius and Saba) is concerned, the enforcement of a judgment rendered by for instance an English court will be subject to the provisions of the Convention between the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland regarding Mutual Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in …
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ATTACHMENTS UNDER THE LAWS OF CURACAO (part II)
Defendant has to show that the claim is invalid
Article 705, Paragraph 2 of the Curaçao Code of Civil Procedure states that the lifting of an attachment may be ordered if it appears summarily that the claim is invalid.
According to existing case law of the Dutch Supreme Court (see for instance Supreme Court dd June 14, 1996, NJ (Dutch Law Reports) 1997, 481), this means that the plaintiff (i.e. the party requesting the attachment be lifted in summary proceedings), with due regard for the limitations of summary proceedings, should establish a prima facie case (aannemelijk maken) that the alleged …
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ATTACHMENTS UNDER THE LAWS OF CURACAO (part I)
Freezing assets is rather easy
Under Curaçao law any party with a prima facie claim may file a petition for a court order granting an attachment, which petitions are generally granted, solely based on the allegations in the petition. It is not required, under Curaçao law, that the litigant needs to demonstrate that, in absence of an attachment, there is a risk that the defendant would have insufficient assets to pay a judgment, as a threat of evading a judgment (by moving assets etc.) does exist.
Only with respect to some types of assets, such as registered shares and other …
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OPPORTUNITIES TO MEET ME
Amsterdam, The Hague & Vienna
I am going to attend the following conferences:
I hope to meet many colleagues and others from all over the world.
Karel Frielink (Attorney/Lawyer, Partner)
(17 September 2015)
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FRAUD (part II)
Legal forms of fraud
The person who forges a diploma, agreement or identity document is guilty of a criminal offence. Although the concept of ‘fraud’ is only mentioned in relation to human trade in the Criminal Code of Curaçao, there are various offences which can have a relationship with fraud in the sense meant herein: forgery, embezzlement, swindle, (fraudulent) bankruptcy and bribery.
In civil-law relationships the doctrines such as breach of contract, wrongful act, misleading advertisement, error and deception come to mind. In addition, there are lots of other Acts with special provisions such as tax law. I will pass …
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FRAUD (part I)
Curaçao
Fraud is an everyday occurrence. It is of all times, and a phenomenon that happens in every country. In discussions about fraud (and corruption) in Curaçao you regularly see that people refer to other countries, in particular to the Netherlands, to downplay this phenomenon here somewhat. The small number of criminal prosecutions and convictions are often mentioned. In this connection it is often said that they are of ‘a political nature’. Sometimes it is even alleged that someone’s integrity can only be discussed when there is a criminal conviction. We can delude ourselves a lot!
In the event of …
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