MONITORING PROGRAM RELEASES REPORT ON JUSTICE SYSTEM

The Judicial System Monitoring Programme (JSMP) today released a report examining the effectiveness of the administration of the Special Panels for Serious Crimes created by UNTAET.

The report describes in detail the needs of the developing court and judicial system and makes special recommendations to UNTAET and the Ministry of Justice on how to address these needs.

“In the past two years enormous progress has been made in building a system in which international and East Timorese judges sit together to hear [Serious Crimes] cases,” a JSMP statement said. “It is clear that despite the progress, several aspects of the current administrative structures within the courts are impacting adversely on the quality of justice.”

In summarizing its recommendations the JSMP called for priority comprehensive strategic planning that should lead to substantial reforms of the court administration, including significantly improved resource mobilization and coordinated training and mentoring of East Timorese staff.

The report concludes that “without a clear administrative structure, well defined responsibilities and adequate training and technical assistance, East Timor’s new justice system and the Special Panels for Serious Crimes will continue to struggle.”

Earlier this week Acting SRSG Dennis McNamara said he understood the frustration felt by many East Timorese over the slow pace of the justice system, but gave assurances that UNTAET is committed to enacting changes that will make the system more responsive and effective.

Among these changes is decentralizing the Serious Crimes Unit’s work by creating Prosecution Teams which, directed by a lead prosecutor, will decide on the basis of information collected from communities on where to focus investigations.

As part of this effort, an office was opened yesterday in Maliana in Bobonaro district at which Civpol investigators will be permanently placed to conduct enquiries into serious crimes committed in the area in 1999. Other permanent investigators will be soon be placed in Oecussi, Suai and Manafui districts, and then in four additional districts over the next two months.

SPECIAL TECHNICAL MEETING HELD ON BORDER DEMARCATION

A special technical meeting on border demarcation took place Jakarta earlier this week between representatives from East Timor and Indonesia.

The participants – technical and legal experts and representatives of the Indonesian military and East Timor Peacekeeping force – agreed that a reconnaissance of the border will be undertaken in February next year.

The reconnaissance survey will study the riverbanks, river islands, customary usage and technical issues. This will be followed by a number of technical steps, preliminary to the resolution of the location of the borderline.

The two-day meeting that ended on 11 December was a follow-up to the negotiations of the Third Joint Border Committee that took place in Dili last month.