Legal Aid for the Disadvantaged
Timor-Leste faces serious challenges to ensuring fair, open access to justice. Many citizens have little understanding of their legal rights or knowledge of justice; rural people are in particular need of basic dispute resolution mechanisms. Further, the nascent formal justice sector typically fails because of limited resources, limited awareness of options among citizens, and geographic isolation. However, through a network of local legal aid organizations, we support pro-bono legal services for disadvantaged citizens, paying particular attention to the rights of women. We are also actively involved in increasing awareness of laws and legal procedures among vulnerable groups and have targeted remote communities using everyday language and national and community radio. Last year we helped to provide mobile legal aid services to thousands of poor people like Gil Fernandes. Gil, a resident of Oecusse, a small village, was desperate. Embroiled in a complicated land dispute that recently failed in mediation, he could not afford a lawyer to represent him in court against a well-connected family. Frustrated and fearful, Gil was told by his village chief to await a visit from Fundasaun Fatu Sinai, a volunteer mobile legal aid group that regularly visits the village. During a consultation, Gil was offered free legal counsel. The lawyers prepared his defense and are actively representing him, helping him understand court proceedings and advising him on his options.