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2007 Assessment

Timor-Leste: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Timor-Leste: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Law Enforcement
Indicators		Score
80	Is the law enforcement agency (i.e. the police) effective?	33
81	Can law enforcement officials be held accountable for their actions?	75

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Is the law enforcement agency (i.e. the police) effective?

80a: In practice, appointments to the law enforcement agency (or agencies) are made according to professional criteria.

Score:

100

Comments: This is a law that is still being worked on and that faces criticism by CSO. A number of legal aid organizations would resist the law if it applies. This issue is also linked to political interference due to educational background. Many who have an Indonesian education cannot come to an agreement with those who have a Portuguese education. Most leaders had a Portuguese background and want to dismiss those educated under the Indonesian regime by saying they were not well trained and lack knowledge.

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

Peer Review Comments: selection criteria are being reconstituted after the April 2006 crisis

Peer Review Comments: Note that the PNTL (police) has been reconstituted after the 2006 crisis, with officers being trained/retrained by UNMIT/UNPOL. Positions were reallocated or are otherwise pending the completed revamp on a case-by-case basis.

Peer Review Comments: I am not sure I understand the comments provided. There are differences of opinion on the degree to which police officers who served under the Indonesian system should be eligible for service during independence. It is generally agreed that there have been problems associated with recruitment and training of law enforcement personnel.

80b: In practice, the law enforcement agency (or agencies) has a budget sufficient to carry out its mandate.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has a budget sufficient to fulfill its basic mandate. <p>50 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has limited budget, generally considered somewhat insufficient to fulfill its basic mandate. <p>0 Score Criteria: The agency (or agencies) has no budget or an obviously insufficient budget that hinders the agency\'s ability to fulfill its mandate.$

Comments: The police often rely on donor support, and suffer from resource constraints. Their cars are very limited and other equipment is lacking.

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

Peer Review Comments: The assessor is confusing law enforcement agency with some other agency - legal monitoring perhaps

Peer Review Comments: Is the author referring to private security companies when questioning their ability to compete?

80c: In practice, the law enforcement agency is protected from political interference.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

Peer Review Comments: The police, and to a lesser extent the army, were compromised by the 2006 violence and security/political crisis, resulting in the police having to be rebuilt. UNPOL has equal status to the PNTL in Timor-Leste and performs much of the sovereign policing functions at time of this writing.

Peer Review Comments: Interference in law enforcement agencies has been a significant challenge and contributory factor to the crisis.

Can law enforcement officials be held accountable for their actions?

81a: In law, there is an independent mechanism for citizens to complain about police action.

Score:

YES

Comments: The ombudsman's office would be the primary mechanism through which citizens could complain about police actions.

References: Law of ombudsman

Constitution of RDTL, article 27

Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

81b: In practice, the independent law enforcement complaint reporting mechanism responds to citizen's complaints within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

81c: In law, there is an agency/entity to investigate and prosecute corruption committed by law enforcement officials.

Score:

YES

Comments: Both the ombudsman's office and the inspector general's office are tasked to investigate such allegations. However, neither can independently advance legal action without the approval of the government. Evidence gathered during such investigations cannot necessarily be used as evidence for legal action. The two bodies can only document and recommend; the minister of administration of state has to then re-investigate the case before initiating a formal court case, and the political will of the ministry of state can be questioned when politically connected individuals are involved.

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

81d: In practice, when necessary, the agency/entity independently initiates investigations into allegations of corruption by law enforcement officials.

Score:

100

Comments: The ombudsman is quite aggressive in initiating investigations, although the dependence of this office on the prime minister and Parliament to advance investigations undermines its ultimate efficacy.

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

Peer Review Comments: Given the political and financial dependence on the government, donors and the United Nations of Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Office of the Provedor, a medium score here is the most optimistic analysis possible.

Peer Review Comments: I would question the number of reports and investigations of police abuses of power/corruption.

81e: In law, law enforcement officials are not immune from criminal proceedings.

Score:

YES

Comments: Police officers are not granted immunity under the law.

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007

81f: In practice, law enforcement officials are not immune from criminal proceedings.

Score:

100

Comments: The ombudsman office indicates that political will remains the major challenge in this area. They have identified a number of irregularities, but no one has been willing to listen to their report, not even Parliament.

References: Interview with Dr. Amandio Benevides, deputy of the ombudsman office, in his office, on 17 July 2007