text: The Charter for the Kingdom of the Netherlands (in Dutch: Statuut voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; in Papiamentu: Statuut di Reino Hulandes) is a legal instrument that sets out the political relationship among the four countries that constitute the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten in the Caribbean and the Netherlands (for the most part) in Europe. It is the leading legal document of the Kingdom. The Constitution of the Netherlands and the Basic Laws of the three other countries are legally subordinate to the Charter.
  History
  The first version of the Charter, which described the relationship between the Netherlands, Suriname, and the Netherlands Antilles, was signed by Queen Juliana on 15 December 1954 and effective 29 December 1954. This version lasted for a couple of decades until 25 November 1975, when Suriname became an independent republic.