Timor-Leste Justice Sector Reform Working Group Coordinator Lucia Lobato said Portugal should be a strategic partner and should initiate contacts in March to establish cooperation.
“I will propose to the Prime Minister [Xanana Gusmão] that Portugal will be a strategic partner in the field of justice. To ensure the democratic rule of law, Portugal will always be a strategically important country for Timor-Leste. In this case, Portugal will always be the country we turn to for help in strengthening the system,” said Lucia Lobato.
The official recalled that when she was Timor-Leste’s Minister of Justice, she had already chosen Portugal as a strategic partner and that in March she would try to restore this cooperative relationship, which she said would benefit both countries.
The former Timorese minister also said that regarding the Strategic Cooperation Plan being discussed between the two countries, she has already asked the Timorese government to discuss the justice component.
Asked by Lusa whether Timor-Leste would again ask for Portuguese judges, given their expulsion from the country at the end of 2014, Lucia Lobato replied that there were situations that needed to be recognized and addressed.
“I am not in favor of expelling international judges, but I am also not in favor of international judges coming to Timor and not helping to solve our problems,” said the former Timorese minister.
According to Lucia Lobato, we cannot go back, but we can begin discussions with a “clear vision.”
“We continue to count on the Portuguese judges, we will discuss and come to an agreement. We will try to ensure a bilateral agreement from which both sides will benefit,” he emphasized.
In November 2014, the government of Timor-Leste ordered the expulsion of eight judicial officers, seven Portuguese and one Cape Verdean, after parliament approved a resolution to suspend contracts with international judicial officers, “citing force majeure and the need for uncompromising protection of the National interest.”
At the time, Xanana Gusmão, who also assumed the role of Prime Minister, explained the decision to Lusa by saying that those responsible for the Timorese judicial sector had not complied with a parliamentary resolution that also demanded a review of the Timorese judicial system. .
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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