East Timor Rushed Into Creating Judiciary, Foreign Minister Says
Wellington, Sept 10, NZPA - East Timor moved too quickly to establish
its
own judicial and prison system during the transition to independence,
Foreign
Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said today.
Dr Ramos-Horta, who is briefly visiting New Zealand, yesterday met Prime
Minister Helen Clark and thanked her for the peacekeeping troops who have
been
helping maintain security in the fledgling democracy.
Today he said they would be missed when they left in November, but he
hoped
New Zealand would continue to help with the country's administration,
judicial
and prison systems.
The institutions are still very fragile ... our judiciary is almost
non-existent,'' he said on National Radio.
The judges were appointed by the UN two years ago, judges with no basic
education in law, only a few with law degrees.''
Dr Ramos-Horta said there were so many people in prison they were not
being
put on trial.
Some in prison, who if they go to trial they would get maybe three months,
six months prison for petty crimes, they are there for a year or two years
waiting for trial,'' he said.
We should have been more cautious, allowing the UN to control the justice
system for the foreseeable future until we have a sufficient number of
trained
judges.
Some of my cabinet colleagues were in a hurry to timorese the two areas.''
Dr Ramos-Horta said yesterday, after meeting Miss Clark, that he would
make
special mention of New Zealand when he addressed the UN General Assembly.
Its commitment of peacekeepers and aid had been greater than that of
many
other countries, he said.