Ministry of Justice and JICA discuss the preparation of the Draft of the Law on Mediation
The Minister of Justice, Dionísio Babo Soares, held a meeting with the Japanese Government’s representative (Japang International Cooperation Agency - JICA), Kenta Komatsu, at the Ministry of Justice, in Dili, last June 24, to analyze the viability of the preparation of the Draft of the Law on Mediation for Timor-Leste.
After the meeting, Dionísio Babo Soares informed that the National Directorate for Legislation of the Ministry of Justice has been working, during the previous months, in partnership with JICA’s team, on the elaboration of the legislation over mediation. According to the Minister, the aim is to create a law, based on tradition, to solve some civil disputes, “avoiding everything to be solved in courts. Civil disputes such as Ilegal Land’s Occupation and private properties”.
The Minister of Justice added, further, that “this law is very important, for, once it is approved, it will bring justice to the community in need of access to justice, because we will start to have a standard mechanism that everyone can use to solve civil cases. JICA’s team will send an expert to work with the National Directorate for Legislation, to draft this Law. For now, we will still have to contact some relevant entities, such as the Court and the Prosecutor General, to avoid conflicts with other existing laws in Timor-Leste. This Draft Law shall be prepared this year. We want to prepare a Draft Law that is representative and in accordance with Timor-Leste’s reality. We don’t want a copy of a law from another country. We need to have a seminar for public consultation and to gather various opinions”.
The Japanese Government’s representative, Kenta Komatsu, added that “our aim in Timor - Leste, specifically at the National Directorate for Legislation, is working together in preparing the Draft of the Law on Mediation. Japan already has this law but we still don’t know how to implement such a law in Timor-Leste, according to the country’s reality. We have already sketched a plan to meet with donors and Non-Governmental Organizations, to prepare this draft law”, concluded Kenta Komatsu.
