Saturday 19 May 2012

FINDING WAYS OF RESOLVING LAND PROBLEMS IN EAST TIMOR

Original Citation: 2004 ETLJ 13 FINDING WAYS OF RESOLVING LAND PROBLEMS IN EAST TIMOR

Translated from the original article in Indonesian by Amado Hei published in Direito Edition No 21 January 2003 published by Perkumpulan Hak, Dili, East Timor

The Portuguese and Indonesian governments left behind the problem of land and property in respect of which a solution must be found soon.

Many land and housing issues are coming to light in our country that constitute a heavy burden for the government. This problem is very difficult to resolve because it is a problem that accumulated during Portuguese colonialism and the Indonesian occupation and that was made more complex by the destruction of the country in 1999.

In order to find a solution, Yayasan Hak (now Perkumpulan HAK) organised a public discussion about land and property at Knua Buka Hatene, Dili, on 5 October 2002. This discussion involved all interest groups from the community, youth, Parliament and the government. The purpose of the discussion was to involve the community in finding alternative means of resolving the land and property problem. It was hoped that from this discussion would arise proposals on appropriate resolution mechanisms that would form the basis of national policy.

In this discussion, the Director of Land and Property, Pedro de Sousa analysed the history of the land problem in Timor Lorosa’e. According to him, the land problem is so complex that there needs to be a thorough identification of the issues before the method of resolving it and legislation can be determined. In addition to that, there needs to be a dialogue with all interested parties.

A similar view was expressed by Jose da Costa, Judge of the Dili District Court. He said that the court experienced difficulties in resolving land dispute cases. This was caused by the absence of legislation regulating the matter. Now, based on the UNTAET regulation, the Indonesian law is still applied; namely, the Basic Agrarian Law. “This legislation is really not appropriate for the resolution of our land problems”, he said.

Meanwhile, Member of the National Parliament, Manuel Tilman (from the KOTA Party) said that the Government had already submitted a draft regulation on immovable property. “That regulation will soon be enacted to regulate our land and property. But the possibility of amending it is still open if there are any deficiencies in it”, he said.

In the same discussion, the Head of the East Timor Students’ Solidarity Council, Natalino de Jesus, said that there needs to be vacant free land surrendered to the Government so that the Government can regulate it for the public interest. “But in doing this, the Government must involve the community” he added.

Participants discussed many views on the land issue. For example, there is land that has already been sold by its owner during the Indonesian occupation, and again by the second owner to a third party. Now, the first party claims that the land is still owned by him because the first sale was not really a sale but a loan. There is land that is owned in respect of which there are two certificates originating from the two different periods; the first from the Portuguese government; the second from the Indonesian government. These certificates are held by different people so now a conflict arises. Other issues are that, following the destruction in 1999, there are people who occupy land and buildings that are owned by others. Amongst this group are people who occupy more than one house and rent it to other parties.

Generally, participants said that the Government needs to involve the community in the discussion of draft legislation. “It would be better if the National Parliament created a mechanism to hear opinions before determining legislation that has a connection with public issues”, said Rui Viana from Yayasan Hak. “The Parliament and the Government can constitute a working group outside the Parliament to discuss the resolution of the problem together with the people”, he said.

Translation by wlwright dili 25 august 2004

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Index

2011

1. The Rule of Law: Theoretical, Cultural and Legal Challenges for Timor-Leste

2010


2009


2008


1. Justice for Serious Crimes Committed during 1999 in Timor-Leste: Where to From Here?

2. Joint Command for PNTL & F-FDTL Undermines Rule of Law & Security Sector Reform in Timor-Leste

3. Criminal Justice in East Timor and the Constitution of East Timor

4. Commentary on the Draft Arms Law in Timor-Leste

5. Deleted

2007

1. The Law on Political Parties (No 3/2004) & the Decision of the Timor-Leste Court of Appeal in the case of Vitor da Costa & Ors v Fretilin

2. Ethnicity, Violence & Land & Property Disputes in Timor-Leste

3. East Timor: Reconciliation & Reconstruction

4. Legal opinion on the appointment of the Prime Minister and the formation of Government in Timor-Leste

5. A legal opinion on the Formation of an Unconstitutional Government in Timor-Leste

6. Commission for Truth Friendship East Timor Competing Concepts of Justice

7. 25th of May 2006 Massacre & War Crimes in Timor-Leste

2006

1. Some Land Tenure Issues in Post-Conflict East Timor

2. Extradition from Indonesia to East Timor & the Serious Crimes Process in East Timor 1999 - 2005

3. East Timor: Internal Security, States of Seige & Emergency: A Note on the Constitutional Provisions & the Internal Security Law 2003

4. East Timor: The Constitutional Process Governing the Dismissal of the Government

5. Guidelines for Preparation of Outgoing Requests by East Timor for International Judicial Assisstance - Extradition Requests & Letters Rogatory - A Practice Manual

6. Roles of the President and the Prime Minister in the Current Constitutional Crisis in East Timor

7. Institutions & the East Timorese Experience

8. An Early Warning System for Timor-Leste: A Framework Concept of the Need & Possibility of an Early Warning System for the Timorese People

2005

1. The Timor-Leste Maritime Boundaries Case

2. Deleted

3. On the occasion of the International Conference on Traditional Dispute Resolution & Traditional Justice in Timor-Leste

4. General Facts on the Timor Sea & Facts on the Negotiations on a Permanent Maritime Boundary between Timor-Leste & Australia

5. Deleted

6. Morality, Religion & the Law: Abortion & Prosititution in East Timor

2004

1. A Note on Land Rights in East Timor (Indonesian Government Regulation No 18 of 1991 on the Conversion of Land Rights in East Timor) & the Purported Suspension of Article 5 by Government Regulation No 24 of 1992

2. UNTAET Land Policy


3. Some Observations on UNTAET Regulation No 27/2000 on the Temporary Prohibition on Transactions in Land by Indonesian Citizens

4. Sandalwood & Environmental Law in East Timor

5. Some Observations on the Report on Research Findings & Policy Recommendations for a Legal Framework for Land Dispute Mediation in East Timor

6. An Overview of East Timor's Law No 1 of 2003 on the Juridical Regime on Immovable Properties

7. Report on Research into Adat Land Law in East Timor

8. Short Analysis of UNTAET Executive Order No 2 of 2002 on the Decriminalisation of Defamation

9. An Overview of the Constitutional Drafting Process in East Timor

10. Some Notes on East Timor Government Decree No 1/2004 on the Orthographical Standard of the Tetum Language

11. UNTAET Guidelines for the Administration of Public & Abandoned Property by District Administrations

12. Tara Bandu: The Adat Concept of the Environment in East Timor

13. Finding Ways of Resolving Land Problems in East Timor