ARUBA CRIMINAL LAW
Holloway case raises questions
I received several questions from US news channels about the legal system of Aruba. Basic information can be found on this official website: click here.
From another source (about Dutch law, to a large extent similar to Aruban law): The criminal justice legal process is divided into pretrial and trial phases. In the pretrial phase, intrusive measures such as telephone taps, searches of the person or premises are conducted to secure evidence. This is tempered through the provision of an attorney and notification to the suspect of the development of the case. The trial phase can be described as an accusatorial process. The purpose of the trial is to discover the truth. The court trial lacks some elements of a purely adversarial process in that while it is the judge who asks questions at the trial, attorneys are only allowed to ask supplementary questions, cross-examination does not exist.
All prohibited acts are classified either as crimes or felonies (misdrijven), infractions or transgressions (overtredingen). The legislature determines whether an offense constitutes a crime or an infraction. Imprisonment is only imposed for serious crimes. The minimum sentence is 1 day, the maximum is 15 years. Murder sentences can be extended to 20 years. A life sentence may be imposed for murder or manslaughter with aggravating circumstances, although this is rare.
According to the Aruba Penal Code (Article 72) with respect to adults (18 years and older):
- There is a 6 year statute of limitations on crimes with a maximum term of imprisonment of 3 years (involuntary manslaughter: max. 9 months imprisonment)
- There is a 12 year statute of limitations on crimes with a term of imprisonment of at least 3 years (voluntary manslaughter: max. 15 years and murder: max. 20 years imprisonment)
- There is a 18 year statute of limitations on crimes which result in a life sentence (e.g. murder committed by terrorists / kidnapping resulting in the death of the kidnapped person / killing someone to hide a crime: life sentence)
If you need anything further, please feel free to contact me at: Karel.Frielink@Spigthoff.com.
Karel Frielink
Curacao-based Attorney (lawyer) / Partner
Filed under: legal by Karel.Frielink