The poenale sanctie (''penal sanction'') was a legal penalty in both

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the nor ...

and the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

Dutch East Indies

The ''poenale sanctie'' was a part of the ''Koelie Ordonnantie'' ('Coolie Ordinance') of 1880 and stipulated that a plantation-owner could punish his

coolie A coolie (also spelled koelie, kuli, khuli, khulie, cooli, cooly, or quli) is a term for a low-wage labourer, typically of South Asian or East Asian descent. The word ''coolie'' was first popularized in the 16th century by European traders acros ...

s in any manner he saw fit, including fines. This made the plantation-owner both

policeman A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

and

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. The reasons for punishing a coolie could be many, including laziness, insolence or attempting to flee the plantation. Because of the ''poenale sanctie'' whipping became commonplace on the plantations of the Dutch East Indies. The overseers thought that without these whippings, the 'dumb and lazy' coolies would never do their jobs. Around 1900 criticism of the system arose, but the sanction was only finally abolished in 1931.

Suriname

After the abolition of slavery in

in 1863,

indentured servant Indentured servitude is a form of Work (human activity), labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract, called an "indenture", may be entered "voluntarily" for purported eventual compensa ...

s were recruited primarily in the Dutch East Indies and in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. These servants were subject to ''poenale sanctie'' because of their contracts. This meant that in case of

breach of contract Breach of contract is a legal cause of action and a type of civil wrong, in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other part ...

, the servant would not be subjected to civil law, but to

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law ...

. A plantation-owner could thus subject his servants to harsh punishments, as long as they were under contract. By ordinance of September 8, 1947, the ''poenale sanctie'' was officially abolished in Suriname on January 1, 1948.

References

* Prof. dr. J.C. Breman: ''Koelies, Planters en Koloniale Politiek'', Dordrecht 1987: Foris {{DEFAULTSORT:Poenale Sanctie Dutch East Indies Legal history of the Netherlands Law of Indonesia Law of Suriname

Dutch East Indies

Suriname

See also

References