A team from Cambodia's Center for Social Development visited East Timor to learn about justice-sector oversight. Team members included CSD Legal Unit Director Loa Mong Hay (center) and Chou Vineath (right). The Asia Foundation's Louis Gentile (left) accompanied them.

Photo by Nuno Miguel X. de Jesus, The Asia Foundation

Cambodian Court Monitors Come to Learn from East Timor (July 2, 2004)

A team of justice-sector specialists visited Dili recently to learn about justice sector oversight from East Timor's own Justice System Monitoring Programme (JSMP). The visitors are members of Cambodia's Center for Social Development (CSD) a 10-year old organization that established a new Court Watch program last year. CSD Legal Unit Director Lao Mong Hay brought his team to learn about the East Timor experience in monitoring of the courts and justice sector.

JSMP arranged meetings and court monitoring visits to provide the Cambodian delegation with greater knowledge of justice sector oversight. The two organizations exchanged information about policies, procedures, and ethical considerations in court monitoring, as well as data collection methods, report writing, and information outreach. The Cambodians also met with officials from the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Deputy Prosecutor, the police, and the prisons. During the visit they gain in-depth knowledge of these institutions, their legal frameworks, and how they implement policies and procedures. The CSD team also met with East Timor justice NGOs Liberta and Perkumpulan HAK to discuss how they provide legal services to clients in prison and detention.

East Timor's experienced justice-sector monitors provided the Cambodians with greater insights about practical and ethical considerations in court monitoring and how it can contribute to justice sector development. A visit by one of JSMP’s legal advisors to Cambodia was planned to give further technical assistance to CSD’s new Court Watch program.

“The Cambodian visit shows that East Timor has something to contribute to the world," said Member of Parliament Clementino Amaral. "The Cambodians have set the example that they want to learn from us…we also should learn from them if we want to be successful in the future.”

The Asia Foundation offices in Cambodia and East Timor arranged the visit. With support from USAID, The Asia Foundation in East Timor implements its Access to Justice program to enhance East Timor's emerging justice system, raise public awareness and understanding of how the justice system works, and facilitate informed public participation in legal development.

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