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Press Release
Meeting of the Council of Ministers of June 17, 2020
The Council of Ministers met at the Government Palace in Dili and approved a draft Government Resolution, presented by the Minister of Justice, Manuel Cárceres da Costa, on the appointment of Tiago Amaral Sarmento as a permanent member of the Superior Council of the Judiciary. The Council is responsible for managing and disciplining the activity of judicial magistrates and also to appoint, place, transfer and promote judges in Timor-Leste. The Superior Council of the Judiciary is chaired by the Presiding Judge of the Supreme Court of Justice and includes four members, one of which is designated by the Government.
The Government also approved the draft Decree-Law on the Legal Regime of Epidemiological Surveillance and Sanitary Surveillance. This diploma aims to provide epidemiological and health surveillance authorities with a range of measures appropriate for the protection and promotion of public health, both in times of normality as well as in emergency circumstances, without prejudice to the special regime of states of constitutional exception. The Decree-Law aims to ensure the mechanisms of protection of public health, seeking to avoid and neutralize risks of dissemination and spread of diseases in the population.
The Minister of Transport and Communications, José Agustinho da Silva gave a presentation to the Council of Ministers on the registration and organization of inspection services for ships and vessels. The presentation focused on the preliminary analysis of two draft Decree-Laws aimed at establishing registration standards and procedures and inspection services for the use of national ships and vessels, in accordance with international standards of maritime safety and protection of the marine environment. The two draft Decree-Laws will continue to be examined by the Council of Ministers and will be discussed at the next executive meeting.
The Minister of Defense, Filomeno da Paixão de Jesus, also gave a presentation to the Council of Ministers regarding the proposal for the creation of the National Maritime Authority (AMN) and the definition of its attributions and its coordinating structure. It is intended that the AMN becomes the entity responsible for coordinating the activities, nationwide, to be carried out by the Naval Force Component and the Direction of the National Maritime Authority, in the area of jurisdiction and within the framework of the Maritime Authority System, in compliance with the instructions defined by the Minister of Defense. The creation of this institution will continue to be examined by the Government and will be considered again at a later meeting of the Council of Ministers. ENDS