The President of Republic, José Ramos-Horta, on May 16, 2025, decorated several individuals of foreign nationality who contributed to the establishment of maritime borders in the Timor Sea between Timor-Leste and Australia. 

The distinctions were awarded under the Decree of the President of the Republic no. 39/2025, of May 9, which recognizes that “the actions of these personalities were decisive for the definition of maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea in accordance with international law and for Timor-Leste’s sovereignty, constituting a significant contribution to the country and to the Timorese people, which deserves the just recognition of Timor-Leste.”

The Decree recalls that “in April 2016, Timor-Leste triggered, for the first time in history, the Compulsory Conciliation process under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to agree on permanent maritime boundaries with Australia.” As part of this process, “ a panel of experts in international law, made up of five independent conciliators, assisted the two states in reaching an amicable solution to the maritime boundary dispute.”

As the result of this work, “in March 2018, the Treaty between the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and Australia establishing their respective maritime boundaries in the Timor Sea, was finally signed and entered into force in August 2019.”

The decree also stresses that “the success of this mission, which is crucial to Timor-Leste’s development process, would not have been possible without the tireless work of an excellent legal, diplomatic, technical and administrative team.”    It also highlights the central role of the Senior Counsel, made up of “renowned experts and professors in international law,” who “were a fundamental pillar in defining the legal strategy adopted, not only because they put all their vast and in-depth knowledge at the service  of the Timorese cause, but also because of the solidarity and friendship shown towards Timor-Leste’s struggle for its maritime sovereignty.”

Decorations with Collar of the Order of Timor-Leste are awarded to:

1. Professor Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, Senior Adviser on the Law of the Sea, British national, posthumously;
2. Professor Alan Vaughan Lowe, Senior Adviser on the Law of the Sea, British nationality;
3. Sir Michael Charles Wood, Senior Adviser on the Law of the Sea, British nationality.

  Decorations with the Medal of the Order of Timor-Leste are awarded to:

1. Ambassador Peter Taksoe-Jensen, Chairman of the Conciliation Commission, Danish national;
2. Judge Christian Rüdiger Wolfrum, Commissioner of the Conciliation Commission appointed by Timor-Leste, of German nationality;
3. Judge Abdul Gadire Koroma, Commissioner of the Conciliation Commission appointed by East Timor, of Sierra Leonean nationality;
4. Dr. Rosalie Balkin, Commissioner of the Conciliation Commission appointed by Australia, of Australian nationality;
5. Professor Donald Malcolm Macrae, Commissioner of the Conciliation Commission appointed by Australia, of Canadian and New Zealand nationality;
6. Dr. Garth Lindgren Schofield, senior official of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, US national;
7. Dr. Martin Anstice Earlston Doe, senior official of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, of Canadian, Spanish and American nationality;
8. Dr. Janet Legrand, former partner and Chair of the Board of Directors and Global Correspondence of DLA Piper, British national;

 

9. Dr. Stephen Kenneth Kemp Webb, Asia Pacific Energy Director, DLA Piper, Australian national;
10.  Dra. Gitanjali Bajaj, Sia-Pacific Co-Director of International Arbitration, DLA Piper, Australian national;
11. Dr. Robin Willian Cleverly, Technical Consultant specializing in the field of Geology, British national;
12. Dr. Eran Nathan Sthoeger, Consultant and Lawyer in Public International Law, of Israeli and American nationality.

   In the reasoning behind the decree, the Head of State points out that the work of these personalities “constitutes a significant to the country and to the Timorese people, which deserves the just recognition of Timor-Leste.”

The order of Timor-Leste, established by Decree-Law no. 20/2009, of May 6, is intended to “recognize and thank nationals and foreigners who, through their behaviours or acts, have made a significant contribution to the benefit of Timor-Leste, the Timorese or Humanity.”