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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EEN ZHO VOOR EEN BETER MILIEU
Bestuurlijke handhaving moet worden verbeterd
Bestuurlijke handhaving kan soms problematisch zijn als die in handen ligt van een minister of van diens ambtenaren. Ministers zijn lang niet altijd onafhankelijk en kunnen zich, zeker in kleine gemeenschappen, door ‘friends & family’ en andere dan objectieve belangen laten beïnvloeden. Voor ambtenaren van een departement of ministerie geldt dat zij in een gezagsverhouding tot ‘hun’ minister staan, terwijl niet dan wel onvoldoende is gewaarborgd dat zij volledig onafhankelijk kunnen functioneren, hetgeen is vereist om met bestuurlijke handhaving belast te kunnen worden.
Enkele jaren terug heb ik geopperd om een ZHO in het leven …
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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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FRAUDNET – THE POWER OF ONE GLOBAL NETWORK
FraudNet in action
According to The Irish Times, lawyer Antenor Pereira Madruga Filho (a member of FraudNet) is hired by the Irish Government to represent it in a high-profile case involving a lawyer who fled Ireland in 2007 with debts of €80m. The lawyer was arrested in Brazil almost two years ago and has been held since in a prison (click here for the newspaper article). FraudNet Members are regularly in the news and you can read about some of them here.
FraudNet is a worldwide network of lawyers specialized in asset tracing and …
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PRE-TRIAL MOTIONS IN CURACAO
Differences with the United States
Curaçao civil proceedings differ substantially from those in the United States. In Curaçao there are, for instance, no juries. In principle, legal proceedings are basically conducted in writing. Oral pleadings are customary in preliminary relief proceedings, but optional in proceedings on the merits. Discovery proceedings like those in the United States do not exist. Pre-trial motions similar to those in the United States do not exist in Curaçao either. There are, however, so-called incidents or ancillary proceedings in Curaçao.
An ancillary proceeding may be a separate procedural step or an ancillary step within the framework …
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BZSE ADVOCATEN CURACAO
Ondernemingsrecht en financieel recht
BZSE Advocaten en Belastingadviseurs heeft vestigingen in St. Maarten en Curaçao. Het werkterrein van het kantoor omvat echter ook Aruba, Bonaire, St. Eustatius en Saba.
In het kantoor te St. Maarten werken vijf partners en in het kantoor Curaçao twee. De Curaçaose partners zijn Karel Frielink en Jaap Maris. Karel is ruim 25 jaar advocaat; Jaap zo’n 10 jaar, maar hij heeft daarnaast 5 jaar ervaring als senior legal counsel bij een grote bank-verzekeraar.
De belangrijkste rechtsgebieden waarop de partners in Curaçao werkzaam zijn: ondernemingsrecht, handelsrecht en financieel recht. De nadruk ligt op adviseren en (her)structureren, …
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THE CONCEPT OF LIABILITY IN THE DUTCH CARIBBEAN
A three-part distinction
With regard to liability a three-part distinction can be made. The first distinction relates to the basis of the liability: liability pursuant to a contractual relationship (the attributable failure in this respect) and liability pursuant to a wrongful act.
Another distinction relates to the personal liability (thus for the party’s own actions or omissions) and vicarious and/or strict liability: liability for or the acts and omissions of others (vicarious liability) or liability for certain things that happen (strict liability).
For example, employers can be held vicariously liable for certain actions of their employees. According to the Civil …
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BZSE ATTORNEYS – STRAIGHTFORWARD
The Curaçao partners of BZSE
Law is a people’s issue. Clients prefer people to buildings. They are seeking assistance from an expert they can trust. An expert who is able to really listen and who actually adds value to their case.
Quality, continuity and stability are the foundations of the personalized approach by BZSE. In both the civil law as well as in the tax practice, the attorneys and tax lawyers have many years of outstanding service in the Dutch Caribbean.
As of its incorporation, BZSE Attorneys at Law and Tax Advisers has been active throughout the Dutch Caribbean: Aruba, …
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