Judge Luis Alberto José de Lannoy remembered

June 09, 2008 6:31 AM

Through several ceremonies on Curacao and St. Maarten members of the legal community and many others paid their last respects to Judge Luis Alberto José de Lannoy.
On St. Maarten a ceremony was held at the Philipsburg Court of first instance where Judge de Lannoy served for many years. The late Judge de Lannoy (57) died of cancer on May 26th 2008.

Judge de Lannoy who retired in 2007, was appointed President of the Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles in June of 1993. Dean of the St. Maarten Bar Association Maarten le Poole,addressed the court on Friday during the ceremony. He remembered the life of judge de Lannoy who also played a vital role in the islands preparation for Country status.
On St. Maarten, Judge de Lannoy will be recently remembered for his role in the much publicized Marcel Loor case.

Judge Luis de Lannoy passed away Thursday

PHILIPSBURG--Judge Luis Alberto José de Lannoy (57) died of cancer early Thursday, May 26. The magistrate was President of the Joint Court of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba for fourteen years. He went on early retirement last year.
On completion of his education in the Netherlands, De Lannoy became an officer at the Fire Department in Curaçao. After 10 years he wanted to do something else and started to study law at University of the Netherlands Antilles. He became a judge in 1990 and was appointed President of the Joint Court in June 1993.
After his retirement, he remained an acting member of the Court and as such he also presided over criminal cases in the Court of First Instance in St. Maarten. One of the last high-profile cases over which he presided here was the much-discussed trial of Police Commissioner Marcel Loor, whom he convicted on forgery, bribery, tax evasion and money laundering charges.
De Lannoy had a very personal touch in dealing with a case. Not only did he have strong words or a firm judgment for the accused, but he often also had a message during the hearing or in his rulings for society as a whole.
Prior to his retirement, De Lannoy regularly made headlines with his opinion concerning the future of the court under the new constitutional structure. In 2005, he wrote an advice about the future of the Joint Court, which was almost integrally taken over in the Final Statement.
“De Lannoy was known to be a hard and dedicated worker, who wrote good verdicts,” said Lisbeth Hoefdraad, his successor as President of the Joint Court.
“He was loved by his colleague judges and among the courthouse clerks on the islands. He was a remarkable man with a distinct style, also in his relations with judicial authorities in the Netherlands. Even though we already knew since a few weeks that he was seriously ill, his passing away still came as a big surprise. We will be missing him very much,” Hoefdraad said.
St. Maarten Bar Association Dean Maarten le Poole said the members of the Association had been shocked by De Lannoy’s death. “We consider his death a great personal loss. He was a highly intelligent and very amiable person. He made a big mark on justice in St. Maarten, an island he held close to his heart,” Le Poole said.
Luis de Lannoy, decorated Officer in the Order of Oranje-Nassau, leaves behind his wife Marjorie and sons Luis Jr. and Michael.
(source: The Daily Herald St. Maarten )

(June 9, 2008)