Jaime Saleh | |
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Governor of the Netherlands Antilles | |
In office 16 January 1990 – 1 July 2002 |
|
Monarch | Beatrix |
Prime Minister |
Maria Liberia Peters Suzanne Camelia-Römer Alejandro Felipe Paula Miguel Pourier Suzanne Camelia-Römer Miguel Pourier Etienne Ys |
Preceded by | René Römer |
Succeeded by | Frits Goedgedrag |
President of the Joint Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles | |
In office 1 September 1979 – 15 January 1990 |
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Judge of the Joint Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles | |
In office 1974 – 1 September 1979 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Bonaire |
21 April 1941
Occupation | Public prosecutor, attorney, judge |
Jaime Mercelino Saleh (born 20 April 1941) is a Dutch Antillean statesman and former judge. He was a judge on the Joint Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles from 1974 to 1990 and was its president from 1979. Saleh subsequently served as Governor of the Netherlands Antilles between 1990 and 2002.
Saleh was born on Bonaire on 20 April 1941. He was the youngest child in a family of Lebanese immigrants and had eleven siblings. His father worked as a trader and eventually the family became wealthier, which allowed Saleh to study in the Netherlands. At age 13 he was sent to Nijmegen to enter into the Dominicus College. Having been raised a Roman-Catholic he was to become a Catholic novitiate and subsequently a priest. After three years he changed schools and attended the gymnasium at the Bischoppelijke College in Sittard, which he finished in 1962. Saleh then started studying law at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and obtained his degree four years later. He subsequently worked shortly as a substitute prosecutor in the Netherlands.
In 1968 Saleh returned to the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and started working as deputy public prosecutor. In 1971 he turned to the private sector and became an attorney. In 1974 Saleh was appointed as judge on the Joint Court of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles. From 1 September 1979 to 15 January 1990 he served as its President. Saleh also served as Vice President of the Dutch Navy Military Court for the Netherlands Antilles between 1978 and 1979. He was its President from 1979 to 1990.
Saleh was inaugurated as Governor of the Netherlands Antilles on 16 January 1990. He had already been thought of by Governor Bernadito M. Leito as his successor in 1983. During Saleh's early time in office the Third Lubbers cabinet sought a different outlook on the Netherlands Antilles. In 1992, this led to a Common measure of Kingdom governance for Sint Maarten. Saleh as Governor was heavily involved in the preventive oversight. The cabinet of Miguel Pourier took over this role in 1994.