2013-08-21 | cba-blob-10403The Aruban government issued this State Ordinance to implement international obligations by empowering the Ministers to promulgate sanction decrees that restrict residents' financial, shipping, aviation, and telecommunications activities. The framework authorizes targeted exemptions and dispensations, mandates confidentiality for obtained data, and enforces compliance through administrative penalty charges and criminal fines reaching AWG 250,000 for intentional violations. Supervision is delegated to designated civil servants and the Central Bank of Aruba, while the ordinance supersedes the 1997 Sanction Ordinance and becomes effective upon official publication.
Unofficial and not binding translation
§ 1. Definitions Article 1
In this State Ordinance and the regulations based on it, the following terms have the following meanings: international decree : a decree of an international organization, or an international agreement for preserving or restoring peace and safety or ensuring or restoring international rule of law, or combating of terrorism; sanction decree : a State decree containing general enactments, as referred to in Section 2(1); the Ministers : the Minister of General Affairs and the minister or ministers charged with ensuring that the obligations included in a treaty or international decree are complied with; the Minister : the minister in charge of finance.
§ 2. Implementation Article 2
‘having heard the advice of the Advisory Council’, as well as the comma before and after those words, will be deleted in the publication form of the State decree concerned, referred to in Section 6 of the State Ordinance on Publication and Entry into Force (Landsverordening bekendmaking en inwerkingtreding) (AB 1992 no. GT 2). § 3. Sanction decrees Article 3 The rules laid down in a sanction decree may contain restrictions of the international services and financial transactions, shipping traffic, aviation traffic and post and telephone communications from and to Aruba; they may differ from rules laid down in State ordinances. Article 4 The rules laid down in a sanction decree which in any way intend to violate any of the basic rights referred to in Sections I.3, I.8, I.16(1) and I.19(1) of the Constitution of Aruba (Staatsregeling van Aruba) (AB 1987 GT no. 1), will only be binding in so far as the individual natural and legal persons, groups or entities, in respect of which these rules have been laid down, are described or defined so clearly that their identity cannot be doubted. Article 5
Article 6
§ 4. Confidentiality Article 7
concerning any information obtained in the performance of the task assigned pursuant to this State Ordinance. The aforesaid provisions will also not affect the obligation, in accordance with the Code of Civil Procedure of Aruba (Wetboek van Burgerlijke Rechtsvordering) and the Bankruptcy Ordinance (Faillissementsverordening), to give evidence as a witness, or while appearing as a party to or expert in civil matters, with regard to any information obtained in the performance of the task assigned pursuant to this State Ordinance, with the proviso that such an obligation will only exist in so far as this concerns a company or institution that has been declared insolvent or has been dissolved pursuant to a court decision, and that it will not apply to information that relates to companies or institutions that are or have been involved in an attempt to enable the relevant company or institution to continue its business or objects. § 5. Exchange of information Article 8 Without prejudice to the relevant provisions in binding decisions of international institutions, the Minister will be authorized, contrary to the provisions of Article 7, to provide information, obtained in the performance of the task assigned to him in accordance with this State Ordinance, to Aruban or foreign government agencies, or to Aruban or foreign agencies designated by the government, charged with the supervision of the compliance or implementation of treaties or international decrees and the rules laid down for that purpose pursuant to that article, unless: a. the provision of the information is or could in all reasonableness be in conflict with the interests which this State Ordinance intends to protect; b. the purpose for which the information will be used has been insufficiently determined; c. it has been insufficiently guaranteed that the information will not be used for a purpose other than that for which it was provided; d. the confidentiality of the information is not sufficiently guaranteed; or e. the provision of the information were to be incompatible with Aruban law or public order. § 6. Administrative enforcement Article 9
The Minister may impose a penalty charge order for the purpose of enforcing the rules laid down pursuant to Article 6.1.
The Minister shall determine the penalty charge as a lump sum, an amount for each time period in which the mandate was not executed or an amount for each breach of the mandate. The determined amount must be in reasonable proportion to the severity of the violated interest and the intended effect of the imposed penalty.
In the decision to impose a penalty, as referred to in this article, a period must be specified within which the offender may execute the mandate without forfeiting a penalty.
Forfeited penalties shall accrue to the State and recorded as funds of the Ministry of Finance. Article 10
In the case of a violation of the rules laid down pursuant to Article 6.1, the Minister may impose a fine within six months of the violation having been discovered.
The amount of the fine shall be AWG 1,000 for each day that the offender is in default, with the proviso that the fine for each separate violation may not exceed AWG 100,000.
The Minister shall increase the fine by fifty per cent if, at the time of the violation, less than a year has passed since a previous fine on account of a violation of the provisions laid down by or pursuant to Article 6.1 has become irrevocable.
The Minister may moderate the amount of the fine if this amount has proved disproportionately high in a specific case based on special circumstances.
Paid fines will accrue to the State and will be recorded as funds of the Ministry of Finance. Article 11 The person in respect of whom the Minister has performed an act from which he could in all reasonableness draw the conclusion that a fine, referred to in Article 10.1, will be imposed on him on account of a violation will not be obliged to make any statement in this respect. He shall be informed of this prior to being asked orally for information. Article 12
If the Minister intends to impose a fine as referred to in Article 10.1, he shall inform the person involved, stating the grounds on which the intention is based.
The Minister shall give the person involved the opportunity to express his views in writing or orally, at the option of the person involved, prior to the penalty being imposed. Article 13
The Minister shall impose the fine referred to in Article 10.1, stating the following: a. the acts in respect of which the penalty has been imposed;
b. the violated provisions; c. an indication of the place where and time when the violation was discovered; d. the manner in which the amount of the fine has been determined; e. the period in which, the place where and the manner in which the fine must be paid. 2. A fine as referred to in paragraph 1 will be collectable with effect from the expiry of the period in which the offender is able to object pursuant to the State Ordinance on Administrative Procedures (Landsverordening administratieve rechtspraak) (AB 1993 no. 45). § 7. Collection of administrative enforcement Article 14
b. to inspect all business books, documents and other information carriers and to make copies of them or take them away in good time for that purpose; c. to investigate and inspect goods and take them away in good time for that purpose; d. to enter all areas, with the exception of dwellings, without the occupant’s explicit permission, accompanied by persons designated by them. 3. If necessary, they will gain access to an area as referred to in paragraph 2(d) with the assistance of the police. 4. The State Ordinance on General Provisions for the Exercise of Regulatory Powers (Landsbesluit algemene bepalingen toezichtuitoefening) (AB 1998 no. 70) applies to the performance of their task by the persons referred to in paragraph 1. 5. Any person involved in the acts referred to in a sanction decree shall render every assistance to the supervisors appointed pursuant to paragraph 1 and provide all the information required by them to perform the task assigned to them pursuant to this State Ordinance. Article 16
Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 15, the Minister may request the president of the Central Bank of Aruba to designate the supervisors who will be charged with the supervision of the compliance of the provisions laid down by or pursuant to this paragraph with regard to financial transactions by: a. the credit institutions referred to in Section 1(1) of the State Ordinance on the Supervision of the Credit System (Landsverordening toezicht kredietwezen) (AB 1998 no. 16), and b. the insurance companies referred to in Section 1 of the State Ordinance on the Supervision of the Insurance Business (Landsverordening toezicht verzekeringsbedrijf) (AB 2000 no. 82), and authorize him to take receipt of the information gathered by the persons designated by him in connection with the supervision.
If the president of the Central Bank agrees to the request and has been authorized to take receipt of the information referred to in paragraph 1, he shall as soon as possible submit a report to the Minister on the implementation of the sanction decree, the compliance of which is supervised. If the president agrees but has not been authorized, he shall only submit a report to the Minister on the supervisors designated by him; in that case, the supervisors designated by him will report directly to the Minister.
Article 7 and Articles 15.1, second sentence and 15.5 will remain in force. § 9. Penalty provisions Article 17
Any person who intentionally acts in contravention of a sanction decree shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding six years or with a fine not exceeding AWG 250,000, or with both the imprisonment and the fine.
Any person who does not intentionally act in contravention of a sanction decree shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or with a fine not exceeding AWG 50,000, or with both the imprisonment and the fine.
Any person who acts in contravention of the provisions attached to an exemption or dispensation, as referred to in Article 5.2 or who acts in contravention of Article 15.5 shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or with a fine not exceeding AWG 25,000, or with both the imprisonment and the fine.# Article 18
The punishable act referred to in Article 17.1 is a crime.
The punishable acts referred to in Article 17.2 are summary offences. Article 19 The criminal statutes of Aruba apply to a resident of Aruba who commits a punishable offence under or pursuant to this State Decree outside Aruba. Article 20
The Sanction Ordinance (Sanctieverordening) (AB 1997 no. 64) is to be revoked.
This State Ordinance will come into force with effect from the day after the date on which it is published in the Official Bulletin of Aruba.
It may be cited as the Sanctions State Ordinance 2006.