Adjourned Civil Cases Are Finally Heard By a National Judge In The Dili District Court

On 24 - 25 January 2005 the Dili District Court conducted proceedings in several civil cases. These cases were presided over by a single judge, Judge Carmelita Caetano Moniz. The Dili District Court is currently hearing a
backlog of cases from 2002 and 2003 in which final decisions are yet to be handed down.

Five civil proceedings were held on the aforementioned dates, and two of those cases related to building disputes where the Plaintiff LTP is suing the Defendant NRG, and the Plaintiff LTP is suing the Defendant FT. A
decision in this case will not be made before 1 February 2005 as the court is seeking clarification from the Division of Land and Property. In addition, there are two cases relating to termination of employment where
the Plaintiff FG is suing the Defendant PES, and the Plaintiff ADJ Cs is suing BC Sr. RB. Meanwhile, the other case relates to the hire of a vehicle where the Plaintiff DPS is suing the Defendant TIC East Timor.

When the court handed down decisions in the aforementioned civil cases the judge stated that the court accepted all of the petitions from the plaintiffs and found the defendants liable. In the building dispute case the
judge ordered the defendant to immediately vacate the premises that had previously been in dispute. Likewise in the case relating to the termination of employment, the plaintiff was reemployed and the defendant had to
back-pay wages totaling $6006.00 to the plaintiff Cs. Similarly in the case relating to the hire of a vehicle, the defendant was ordered to pay rental fees to the plaintiff.

JSMP observed that the judge's decisions were in accordance with the applicable law in Timor Leste. For instance, the decision in the land dispute case was in accordance with Article 1537 of the Indonesian Civil
Code and Herziene Indische Reglement (Civil Law). Meanwhile for the two cases relating to termination of employment the decisions were handed down pursuant to Law No. 16/ 2003, the Indonesian Civil Code, UNTAET Regulation 2002/5 and UNTAET Regulation 2002/38. In the vehicle hire case, the decision was made pursuant to decree law 2003/10 and several articles from the Indonesian Civil Code, namely 1365, 1338, 1320, 1340 and 1540.

JSMP acknowledges that these cases were adjourned from 2002 until 2004 as the judges attended a series of trainings. JSMP also believes that the decisions in the aforementioned five cases constitute a step forward and
show that the District Court is paying serious attention to the settling of civil cases.