Legal Training for Timorese Jurists at DDLC

Also available in: Tetum

Contacts: in Dili, Luis Sequeira

(670) 723 0554

lsequeira@worldbank.org

in Sydney, Elisabeth Mealey

61-2-9235 6331

emealey@worldbank.org

Dili, May 23, 2005---Strengthening the Justice sector and reducing the reliance on international assistance in the area of the legislative process is a top priority in the development of a new nation such as Timor-Leste. With this in mind, the Ministry of Justice is today launching a 6 month Legal Drafting Course for Timorese lawyers and other legal related technicians working in the government and in the public administration sector.

The course, supported by the Dili Distance Learning Center and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with funding from the government of Portugal, will include lessons on the legislative process in Timor-Leste, internal procedures for drafting legal proposals, principles and rules for legal drafting, legislative texts and case studies.

The course will train up to 25 officials from the Ministry of Justice and other invited ministries and secretariats of state. It will be delivered in five modules, both through videoconferences at the Dili Distance Learning Center as well as through local classroom training sessions facilitated by a UNDP legal expert. During the first module, the local sessions will also draw on the support of an UNMISET advisor working for the Ministry of Justice.

The training course is an initiative promoted by the Ministry of Justice and organized by the Dili Distance Learning Center, together with the Portuguese National Administration Institute (INA) and the Open University from Portugal. Financial and technical support will also be provided through the UNDP supported project, “Strengthening the Justice System in Timor-Leste”.

The opening ceremony will be held at the Dili Distance Learning Centre (inside the World Bank office premises) at 5.30pm on Monday the 23^rd of May.  The Vice Minister of Justice, Mr. Manuel Abrantes will officiate the ceremony. Mr. João Ramos Pinto the Ambassador of Portugal in Timor-Leste, Mrs. Naheed Haque the UNDP Country Director and Ms Elisabeth Huybens the World Bank Country Manager, will also attend.

For more information please visit www.worldbank.org/tl.