Access to Justice in Timor-Leste

The Government of Timor-Leste faces many challenges in providing access to justice for its citizens. Individuals attempts to exercise fundamental rights through traditional dispute resolution mechanisms or through the nascent formal justice sector often fail due to limited financial resources, low awareness of options, and geographic isolation. The Access to Justice Program, implemented by The Asia Foundation and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) aims to bridge those gaps for vulnerable groups by funding legal aid services; supporting non-litigation services; increasing expertise to meet the particular justice needs of women; and increasing awareness of laws and legal procedures vital to securing livelihoods for vulnerable groups.

photo by Conor Ashleigh

photo by Lirio da Fonseca

SUPPORT FOR LEGAL AID SERVICES Access to Justice Program supports legal aid organizations to provide free legal aid services for litigation and non-litigation in all four court jurisdictions: Fundasaun Edukasaun Comunidade Matebian (F.ECM)covering the Baucau Court jurisdiction; Fundasaun Fatu Sinai Oecusse (FFSO) covering the Oecusse Court jurisdiction; LBH-Liberta covering the Dili Court jurisdiction; as well as the Victim Support Service (VSS)specializing in legal support for women and child victims of gender based violence. The partners focus on those who are vulnerable in the community, such as those unable to pay for legal aid services and those in remote communities. From 2002-March 2012 the Legal Aid Organizations assisted around 5700 disadvantaged citizens through both litigation and non-litigation. Access to Justice program assists with the use of alternate dispute resolution mechanisms by supporting legal assistance in non-

litigation processes, encouraging dialogue with, and support to, the sucos (sub-districts) on non-litigation processes, and developing a paralegal program through which individuals are assisted in resolving disputes through mediation. STRENGTHENING PARTNERS CAPACITY Access to Justice program supports capacity building for its partners through specific practical and legal training, materials and tools to assist their work, and monthly roundtable meetings of legal aid lawyers. WOMENS ACCESS TO JUSTICE Access to Justice program supports the Victim Support Service (VSS) of the Judicial System Monitoring Program (JSMP) to provide free legal assistance to women and children victims of gender based violence. Access to Justice program also works with legal aid partners to enhance referral systems for female clients by researching how legal aid partners obtain clients,

encouraging them to strengthen links with womens representatives and organizations, and developing working protocols between the legal aid partners and the VSS. Access to Justice program funds 9 women legal aid lawyers and 8 women Paralegals working in Oecusse, Baucau, Manatuto, Los Palos and Viqueque. TIMOR-LESTE LEGAL EDUCATION PROJECT

projects goal is to institutionalize ways for local actors, to positively influence the development of domestic legal education in Timor-Leste. TLLEP currently focuses on creating textbooks on the laws of Timor-Leste. The final draft of the professional responsibility text book was published in September 2011. These first-of-this kind-texts are published in Tetum, Portuguese, and English so they are broadly accessible to students, goverment officials, members of civil society, and the international community. All texts are updated as the legal landscape changes. The most recent version is available for download online free of charge. LEGAL INFORMATION The Access to Justice program supports a number of activities aimed at assessing the legal information needs of the community and meeting those needs. In 2008, the Access to Justice program conducted a survey of community legal knowledge. Access to Justice Program support is provided to JSMPs Legal Research Unit to conduct court monitoring and legislative analysis, and to publish reports and press releases on both.

For more information about the Access to Justice Program, please contact Kerry Brogan, Chief of Party, Access to Justice Program,
photo by Lirio da Fonseca

The Asia Foundation Timor-Leste, kbrogan@asiafound.org, Tel. (670) 331-3457

Founded in March of 2010, the Timor-Leste Legal Education Project (TLLEP) is a partneship between The Asia Foundation and Standford Law School funded by USAID through its Access to Justice Program. The

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