NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

TEXT OF THE LAW GOVERNING THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL’S OFFICE OF THE NETHERLANDS ANTILLES

1. The Comptroller General’s Office, consisting of one president and two members, will exercise overall control of financial and materials management, in every sense of the word – whichever form of management it may be – of both, the country (the Netherlands Antilles) as well as the insular territories. Two substitute members will be nominated additionally.

2. The Comptroller General’s Office is established in Curazao.

1. The Governor appoints the president, the members and the substitute members for life. The Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles forwards a proposal to the Governor, suggesting two names for each office. At the time of making its proposal, the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles will take into account – to the extent it deems convenient – the information it receives in accordance with subsection number 3) of this article.

2. In case of a vacancy arising of the office of president or of members or of substitute members, the Comptroller General’s Office will notify it to the Governor and to the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles.

3. In case of a notification sent in this regard to the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles, a list of three candidates for each of the vacant office will also be forwarded. The Comptroller General’s Office will prepare the shortlist by a secret majority vote through ballot.

4. A secretary will be attached to the Comptroller General’s Office, who will be appointed by the Governor on the basis of a proposal to be submitted by the Comptroller General’s Office.

5. The Governor may suspend or dismiss the secretary on the basis of a proposal to be made to this effect by the Comptroller General’s Office.

1. The president, the members, the substitute members and the secretary of the Comptroller General’s Office cannot have blood relationship nor a relationship through marriage, up to the second degree.

2. In case the relationship is brought about as a consequence of matrimony, the person causing the relationship on account of matrimony, will submit his/her resignation, unless the Governor - through prior approval of the Comptroller General’s Office and of the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles – permits the person concerned to continue to hold office.

3. This relationship ceases to exist through dissolution or through nullification of the matrimony that brought about the relationship.

4. Spouses cannot simultaneously hold the offices mentioned in subsection number 1) of this article. If the relationship is caused by matrimony, then the person nominated on a later date will have to resign from his/her office.

1. The offices of president, member or substitute member, or secretary of the Comptroller General’s Office are incompatible with any other public office, through whose discharge a fixed remuneration or salary or attendance allowance is received from the country (the Dutch Antilles) or from any insular territory or from any institution created through or by virtue of a legal provision. All these offices are also incompatible with the position of Member of Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles, or with that of member of any of the Insular Legislative Bodies, or of any of the Insular Executive Bodies or of the Consultative Council.

2. The president, the members or substitute members or the secretary will also not take up any office whose discharge will be detrimental to the proper discharge of their duties or to the position of impartiality, independence or trust required by the offices they hold.

3. In case of any incompatibility arising as mentioned in subsection number 1) of this article, it will be assumed that the person concerned has demitted office as president, member or substitute member or secretary, or that he/she has not accepted the corresponding appointment.

1. In order to become eligible to be appointed president, member or substitute member of the Comptroller General’s Office, one must be Dutch, have completed thirty years of age and must be a resident of the Netherlands Antilles.

2. At the end of the year in which the president, a member or a substitute member completes sixty five years of age, he will retire with full honours.

1. The Governor will recall the president, the members or the substitute members:

a. at their request;

b. when they have been sentenced for some crime;

c. when they have been declared to be in a state of bankruptcy, when they have secured suspension of payments or have been imprisoned, on account of debts;

d. when they have been placed under custody.

2. The Government may recall the president, the members and the substitute members, after prior consultation with the Parliament of the Netherlands Antilles and the Consultative Council:

a. when, due to persistent mental or physical illness, or due to ailments of old age, they are unable to discharge their duties properly;

b. on account of abuse of authority or immorality or due to continuous dereliction of duty;

c. when they may have acted in violation of article 9);

d. when they may have acted in violation of article 4), point number 2).

3. In cases mentioned in point number 1), subsection a), and in point number 2), subsections a) & b), the recall will be with full honours.

Article 7.- The president, the members and the substitute members and the secretary of the Comptroller General’s Office, prior to assuming office, swear (certify and promise) the following before the Governor:

"I swear (certify) that, neither directly nor indirectly, and under no circumstance or eventuality, have I given or promised to give anything to anyone, whosoever it may be, in order to be appointed to my office. I swear (promise) that in the discharge of my duties, I will not accept from anyone any promise or gift, directly or indirectly, in order to do or not do something. I swear (promise) loyalty to the King; that I will always uphold and abide by the Constitution of the Netherlands Antilles and the Constitutional Provisions of the Islands that constitute the Netherlands Antilles, and that I will perform the duties vested in my office in good faith, with due conscientiousness, honesty and impartiality. May God therefore help me". (I certify and promise it").

1. The president, the members and the substitute members will respectively get an annual salary of f. 6000, f.4200, and f. 600 respectively. The substitute members will additionally get an attendance allowance of f. 50, for every meeting they attend in that capacity.

2. In case the president or a member of the Comptroller General’s Office is absent for a period exceeding one month, his respective substitute will get a remuneration commensurate with that prescried for the president or the member.

1. On penalty of what is provided in the article 392 of the Penal Code of the Netherlands Antilles, the president, the members, the substiture members, the secretary and other public officials in the service of the Comptroller General’s Office, may not:

a. take credit against the country or against any insular territory, which may not be in public interest;

b. be part of or be guarantors, directly or indirectly, of any company dealing with the Dutch Antilles or some part of the Dutch Antilles, seeking to make a profit or gain out of the contract signed with them.

2. The punishable acts referred to in this article are to be treated as offences.

Article 10.- The Comptroller General’s Office will put into effect work regulations for its various activities. These regulations will be brought to the knowledge of the public by inserting them in the Publication Bulletin.

Article 11.-

1. The Governor appoints, suspends and dismisses the personnel of the Comptroller General’s Office from their posts on the basis of proposals made by the said Office.

2. The president of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Office will swear in the personnel, which will carry out its duties in accordance with the instructions issued by the Comptroller General’s Office.

1. The president is vested with the maximum authority in the supervision of the overall work of the Comptroller General’s Office. He is to ensure the correct application of existing law, of work regulations and such other rules as are based on existing law.

2. He puts up all documents sent to the Comptroller General’s Office or to him in his personal capacity or as the president, for discussion in meetings, provided always that the work regulation doesn’t stipulate some other form of action.

Article 13.- The Comptroller General’s Office may grant to its president and members uninterrupted leave not exceeding one month in duration. The Governor may grant uninterrupted leave extending beyond the period of one month, after prior consultations with the Comptroller General’s Office.

1. In case of absence or inability of the president, he will be substituted by the senior most member. Seniority will be determined on the basis of the date appointment of the members. In case two or more members are appointed simultaneously, the member who is older in age, will be entrusted with the responsibility of substituting the president.

2. In case of absence or inability of some member, one of the substitute members will substitute him, in order of seniority of the substitute members. In case more two or more persons are appointed simultaneously, the substitute member who is older in age, will be entrusted with the responsibility of substituting the absent member. In case of absence or inability of this member also, the remaining substitute member will take on the responsibility of substituting the member.

3. In case of absence or inability of the secretary, he will be substituted by a member of the staff of the Comptroller General’s Office, to be designated by the Governor on the basis of a proposal made by the Comptroller General’s office.

1. In order to adopt resolutions that are legally valid, the presence of the president or his substitute is required, in addition to that of two members or substitute members, as the case may be, and also that of the secretary or his substitute.

2. Resolutions will be adopted by a majority vote. The regulations laid down for transacting business will be the basis for determining the voting procedure.

1. The president, the members, the substitute members and the secretary shall not be allowed to attend the proceedings nor the adoption of resolutions regarding any matter concerning them, their spouses or relatives upto the 3^rd degree through blood relationship or through marriage.

2. They shall not participate in the investigations or in the decisions regarding accounts and explanations thereof, rendered by them.

Article 17.- All persons who are trustees of funds, securities or assets that belong to the country or to an insular territory, or those who may have in their custody funds, securities or assets that are deposited in the country’s or any of the insular territory’s treasury, or those who operate the funds that belong to the national treasury or the treasury of any of the insular territories, whenever they have an independent charge, are accountable to the Comptroller General’s Office. They shall not be exempted from this obligation except through a certificate to that effect from the Comptroller General’s Office.

1. After prior consultations with the Ministry of Finance or with the concerned Insular Executive Body, the Comptroller General’s Office stipulates the manner and the time frame according to which the accounting officials, referred to in article 17, are to render accounts and explanations thereof of their financial and/or materials management.

2. Within one month of the accounting official being informed of the decision of the Comptroller General’s Office regarding the accounts and explanations thereof rendered by him, he may ask for a review by the Comptroller General’s Office.

3. The concerned party will be informed of the result of the review and the fact of this matter will be mentioned in the the report which article 27) refers to.

4. At any time, even after issuing the certificate referred to in article 17), the Comptroller General’s Office is authorised to review the decisions that have been taken on the basis of documents that, at a subsequent date, prove to be false or invalid.

1. If an accounting official doesn’t comply with his obligation of furnishing accounts and explanations thereof of financial and/or materials management, the Comptroller General’s Office will fix a new date for the same.

2. In case of persistent non-fulfillment of this obligation, the Comptroller General’s Office will inform the concerned Minister or the concerned Insular Executive Body, of the matter.

3. Immediately afterwards, the Minister or the concerned Insular Executive Body, as the case may be, will take measures to ensure that the financial and/or materials accounts are furnished, and that the same are presented to the Comptroller General’s Office. The corresponding expenditure may be recovered from the negligent accounting official, in the same manner as is provided for in article 21), point 2).

4. If, by virtue of the preceding paragraph, the accounts and explanations thereof are rendered by a person other than the concerned accounting official, the same will be treateted and transacted as having been prepared and presented by the same accounting official.

1. In case an accounting official is placed under custody, or becomes a fugitive or dies, the official who will act in his capacity and will be appointed in that capacity by the concerned Minister or the concerned Insular Executive Body, shall be entrusted with the responsibility of preparing the financial and/or materials’ accounts and explanations thereof, that the former would have had to prepare.

2. The curator or the inheritors or the successors will be informed of these accounts and explanations thereof, prepared by the official in an acting capacity; if they so desire, they may revise the concerned documents and they shall be given a reasonable period of time to file their objections to these accounts and explanations thereof, and the corresponding documents.

3. After receiving the reply from the curator, the inheritors or successors or in case the time limit given to them having expired, without their having made use of it, the accounts and the explanations thereof will be modified – if necessary – in view of the objections alluded to, and the same will be sent to the Comptroller General’s Office, which will approve them; this decision cannot be appealed against.

4. The inheritors and the successors will be exempted from any responsibility if three years elapse:

a. after the death of the accounting official, without they having been informed of the official position of the accounts and explanations thereof;

b. after having lapsed the time-limit given to them to submit their objections, without the accounts and explanations thereof having been certified.

1. The Minister concerned or the Insular Executive Body concerned shall be entrusted with the responsibility of putting into effect the decisions of the Comptroller General’s Office, as referred to in article 18).

2. If the accounts and explanations thereof of some accounting official, or one that has been rendered by him, have been closed with a debit balance, this debit balance shall be recovered preferably from the income he would be receiving from the country or the insular territory, as the case may be, or from the credits standing in the name of the accounting official with the country or the insular territory, as the case may be. If the debit balance cannot be recovered in this fashion, it will be deducted in the manner prescribed for the collection of indirect taxes.

3. A favourable balance will benefit the country or the insular territory, as the case may be, except in cases where a subsequent refund will have to be made to the party/parties concerned, by virtue of a decision of the Comptroller General’s Office, based on some incorrection found in the documents.

Article 22.- In order to safeguard the interests of the country or of some insular territory, the Minister of Finance, after prior consultations with the Minister concerned, or the Insular Executive Body concerned, may demand provisional compensation from the accounting officials.

1. At a time and in the manner in which the Comptroller General’s Office deems it fit, and on the authority of the Minister of Finance or the Insular Executive Body concerned, a statement of all the changes will be sent to the central Accounts Department of the country or of the insular territory concerned, as the case may be.

2. Furthermore, all the departments and sections are under the obligation of sending to the Comptroller General’s Office the statements considered necessary by the said office for carrying out its responsibilities.

3. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s Office, after prior consultations with the Ministry of Finance or with the Insular Executive Body concerned, will lay down the manner and time-limits for the submission of these statements.

1. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s Office verifies:

a. if the account of income and expenditure, to which reference is made by article 37) of the Accounting Law, and that of the insular territories, as well as the accounts of funds and of the service departments of the central public administration, to which articles 41) and 42) of the law mentioned above make reference, as well as the account of funds and of the service departments of the insular territories, contain all the items that, according to the rules, must figure in the accounts referred to above;

b. if the accounts mentioned in subsection a) of this point of article 24) have been prepared in conformity with the budgetary laws approved by the central government and by the insular ordinances, respectively;

c. if, in collecting the earnings and making the payments, the legal provisions and the resolutions and stipulations laid down by the competent authorities have been adhered to.

2. The Comptroller General’s Office will moreover verify, to the extent possible, if the credits and liabilities of the country and of the insular territories are settled with due care.

It will determine the efficiency of the management of the assets and funds of the country and of the insular territories, as well as the efficiency and organization and functioning of the country’s and insular territories’ services.

3. The Parliament of the Dutch Antilles and the Insular Legislative Bodies may ask the Comptroller General’s Office to carry out certain investigations, provided always that they fall within the purview of its sphere of activities. If the Comptroller General’s Office accepts to undertake these investigations, it will come up with the results of these investigations through a report of which mention is made in article 27), without prejudice to what is laid down in article 28), point 2).

4. The Ministers and the Insular Executive Bodies will ensure that the Comptroller General’s Office is informed well in advance about the investigations into the efficiency level ordered by them, and the results of the same.

5. On the request of the Comptroller General’s Office and with the permission of the Parliament of the Dutch Antilles, the said office may take on other responsibilities.

6. At the time of carrying out verification and supervision jobs, to which reference is made in points 1) and 2) of this article, the Comptroller General’s Office may take into consideration the results of verifications already carried out. However, it must always convince itself by its own means, that those who have been entrusted with the responsibility of auditing, pay sufficient attention to the requirements mentioned in points 1) and 2) of this article.

7. The work plan of those entrusted with the responsibility of auditing, will be made available to the Comptroller General’s Office immediately on request. This Office will also be given complete information regarding the results of this audit job, along with all related records.

1. The Comptroller General’s Office determines, after prior consultations with the Minister of Finance or the Insular Executive Body concerned, the requirements that must be fulfilled by the vouchers justifying the entries of income and expenditure of the accounts that article 24), point 1) refers to.

2. All these vouchers will be sent to the Comptroller General’s Office, immediately upon request. However, the Comptroller General’s Office is authorized to allow that these vouchers may be kept, temporarily or permanently, in the concerned departmental offices.

3. For payments made on account of items of secret expenditure, vouchers are not required to be submitted to the Comptroller General’s Office.

4. The Finance Ministry or the Insular Executive Body concerned lays down the time limits, during which the vouchers – referred to in the point 1) of this article – must be kept, after the Comptroller General’s Office has seen them and doesn’t require them anymore.

Article 26.- The Comptroller General’s Office will immediately inform the Governor and the Parliament or the Insular Legislative Body concerned, about all the payments that, in its opinion, are in violation of what is laid down in subsections b) and c) of the point 1) of article 24, if the consultations with the Minister concerned or with the Insular Executive Body concerned, fail to satisfy the Comptroller General’s Office.

1. Before the 1^st of May of each year, the Comptroller General’s Office shall present to the Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, to the Governors of insular territories and to the representative bodies, a report on the activities corresponding to the exercise undertaken and completed.

2. The Comptroller General’s Office will likewise give an account in the said report of such information emerging from its investigation, as may be useful to the Parliament and the Insular Legislative Bodies, while reviewing the operation undertaken.

1. The Comptroller General’s Office is under obligation to communicate to the Council of Ministers or to the Minister/s concerned, or to the Insular Executive Bodies, all the proposals, observations, objections and comments that it considers relevant to the income and expenditure, as well as those relating to the reforms or simplification of the financial management of the country or the insular territory.

2. It is authorized to communicate to the Governor of the Netherlands Antilles, to the Governor of the Insular Territory and to the representative bodies, whatever it may consider necessary in the interest of the country or insular territory, and is further authorized to discuss subsequently all issues pertaining to these communications with them.

1. The Comptroller General’s Office is under obligation to provide to the Council of Ministers or to the Minister/s concerned or to the Insular Executive Bodies, all information that the nature of their actions permit.

2. The Ministers and the Insular Executive Bodies are under obligation to provide to the Comptroller General’s Office all such information as this Office may consider necessary to perform its duties, unless it relates to secret expenditure for which a separate provision has been made in the budget.

1. A copy of the laws of the central government and of the ordinances of the insular territories by which the budget and the budgets of the funds and the service departments of the country and the insular territories are passed, will be sent to the Comptroller General’s Office, along with a copy of all the resolutions and provisions concerning the management of the budget, and a copy of all the contracts, resolutions, provisions and legal judgments, resulting in income or expenditure, or concerning or having a bearing upon income or expenditure, or on financial or materials management.

2. It will also receive, if it so desires, copies of all such documents as it may consider relevant and necessary for the discharge of the duties entrusted to it.

1. All institutions, associations, corporations, stock companies, foundations or other bodies that receive subsidies from the country or from some insular territory, or that manage the funds or assets provided by the country or some insular territory, are under obligation to present to the Comptroller General’s Office, on request and within the time limit set in this regard, periodical statements of the overall status of financial management and their financial position. Similarly, it may demand the submission of other reports and memorandums that might have been prepared, relating to actions pertaining to its sphere of management and organization and other event related documents that might be of some interest, while reviewing the functioning of the bodies mentioned above.

2. The institutions, associations, corporations, stock companies, foundations or other bodies, under whose management the financial interest of the country or of some insular territory is directly or indirectly involved, are under a similar obligation.

3. The Comptroller General’s Office may similarly demand the rendering of accounts by those who, on the authority of some statutory body, may have audited these accounts or supervised the rendering of related accounts by the audit departments of the executive organs.

4. The Ministers concerned and the Insular Executive Bodies are under obligation to make available to the Comptroller General’s Office a comprehensive list of all the bodies referred to in this article, and to immediately inform it of whatever changes occur in this list.

Article 32.- If the bodies referred to in article 31 do not fulfil the obligations incumbent upon them by virtue of this present law, they will not be eligible for any payment.

1. The Comptroller General’s Office is authorized to demand that one or several of its members or substitute members, as the case may be, and that its secretary or its officials, if so desired, with the assistance of qualified persons appointed by the Comptroller General’s Office, may ask for information in all the offices of public administration, from all the accounting officials and bodies referred to in article 31), carry out a cash count, check stocks, verify books, accounts, substantive documents, vouchers and other documents, provided always that the Comptroller General’s Office considers it necessary for carrying out the job entrusted to it by this law.

2. The persons referred to in the preceding point are authorized to demand at any time that the documents and vouchers referred to in this subsection are completed.

3. All persons working in some public administration office, all accounting officials and all persons working for the management and administration of the bodies referred to in article 31), are under obligation to provide all information that the persons referred to in the point 1) of this article deem necessary, in order to carry out the investigations entrusted to them, and also to cooperate by completing all documents and vouchers referred to in point 2) of this article, within the time limit set by the Comptroller General’s Office.

4. Those who have under their custody the books, accounts, substantive documents, vouchers and other documents referred to in point 1) of this article, are under obligation to hand over these to the members, or substitute members, as the case my be, or to the secretary, officials and qualified persons appointed by the Comptroller General’s Office, so that they may carry out the investigation to which reference is made in this point.

1. The Finance Minister and the Insular Executive Bodies are under obligation to communicate to the Comptroller General’s Office all the loans on account of or guaranteed by the country or the insular territory, as the case may be.

2. The documents submitted in support of the obligation of the country or an insular territory, to which reference is made in point 1) of this article, must be accompanied, under penalty of nullity, by a registration certificate issued by or on behalf of the Comptroller General’s Office.

1. The Governor decides when this law or some parts of this law are to come into effect. In spite of all that is provided for in articles 31) and 32), as regards action/s already underway at the time these legal provisions are to come into effect, these will not be applicable to the bodies referred to in article 31), which might already have been given subsidies for the corresponding fiscal year/s.

2. This present law may be referred to as the "Law of the Comptroller General’s Office of the Dutch Antilles".

TRANSITORY PROVISION

Article 36.- Without prejudice to what is provided for in the first two sentences of article 2) point 1), the president and the members of the Comptroller General’s Office are nominated for the first time with effect from January 1, 1960. While making its proposal, the Parliament of the Dutch Antilles will take into account, to the extent it deems it convenient, shortlists submitted to it by the President’s Secretariat for each of the office to which appointments have to be made as per the shortlists received.