PRESS RELEASE
East Timor's Court of Appeal Renders Three Further Decisions
Applying Portuguese Law
JSMP : 22 July 2003
The
Court of Appeal has recently delivered three further appeals applying
Portuguese law in East Timor. In each case heard before the Court on
Friday last week, the majority of the Court , namely Judge Claudio Ximenes
(Presiding) and Judge Jose Antunes (Portugese International Judge)
affirmed their position that the appropriate subsidiary law in East Timor
is Portuguese, rather than Indonesian law.
The
third member of the Court, Judge Jacinta Correia da Costa delivered a
dissenting opinion expressing her view that the correct interpretation of
the Constitution of East Timor, taken together with United Nations
Regulations 1/1999, is that Indonesian Law should be the subsidiary law in
East Timor. In her dissenting judgment, Judge da Costa emphasised that it
was Indonesian, and not Portugese law, which was being applied in East
Timor prior to October 1999.
Two of
the cases determined last Friday, Joanico Gusmao and Aumerindo Afonso dos
Santos, related to pre-trial detentions while the third case, Augustino da
Costa, was an appeal against the sentence imposed by the Special Panel for
Serious Crimes.
These
decisions followed the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of
Armando dos Santos delivered on Tuesday of last week. In its decision the
Court of Appeal considered that Portuguese Law, rather than the Indonesian
Law, should be the applicable subsidiary law in East Timor. The decision
is of concern to JSMP and other national and international actors working
in the justice sector in East Timor because it has created uncertainty
regarding what should be the applicable law in this
jurisdiction.
" The
decisions of the Court of Appeal last Friday shows that there is an urgent
need to clarify the application of Portuguese and Indonesian Law in East
Timorese Courts. The application of different laws by the different courts
in East Timor brings uncertainty not only for the legal profession but to
the entire society in East Timor" - said JSMP
JSMP is
currently preparing an analysis of the Court of Appeal decision and
implications of the Armando dos Santos case.
Ends.