Timor-Leste is an Asian country located on the shores of the Timor sea, sharing a border with Indonesia. The population of this country is approx 13,54,000 with 14,950 square kilometers area. The official languages are Portuguese and Tetum, although citizens speak more than 15 languages. More than 99% of the population are Christian, and almost all are Roman Catholic.
Previously, the current Timor-Leste was under Portuguese rule for several hundred years. After declaring independence in 1975, Indonesia occupied it and declared it as its 27th province. The history that followed was nothing but bloodshed. The Indonesian military killed innocent people even in the slightest incident. About two hundred thousand people died in 24 years. Later, at one point in 1999, the United Nations took over, and after a referendum in 2002, Timor-Leste regained its independence and emerged as a sovereign state.
A disabled citizen has the same rights and duties as all other citizens, except for those rights and duties which they are unable to exercise or fulfil due to their disability. All citizens have the right to disobey and resist unlawful orders or orders which affect their fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees. Everyone has the right to housing of adequate size for themselves and their family, capable of protecting hygiene, personal intimacy and family privacy.
These are positive aspects. Now let's discuss the negative aspects.
Timor Island has an area of 30,777 square kilometers, and Timor-Leste consists mainly of the eastern part of the island, and the western part of the island is Indonesia. The name Leste means east. However, in the western part, there is a part of Timor-Leste inside Indonesia, called Oecusse and measuring 813 square kilometers. Therefore, the word Timor-Leste is technically incorrect. Although it is not a complete enclave - it is a separate territory, because although it is surrounded by Indonesia on three sides, there is sea on one side. The distance between the two borders is about 55 kilometers, and Oecusse enjoys sovereignty on the pretext of this distance. In 2002, Timor-Leste should have withdrawn its claim to Oecusse, and handed it over to Indonesia instead of making it part of Timor-Leste. Exclaves or enclaves are not a solution. This is a mentality of coercion.
Article 96 is dangerous, giving the government extraordinary powers.
Admirable Articles of Timor-Leste's Constitution
Article 12. The State and Religious Denominations
1. The State recognizes and respects the different religious denominations, that are free in their organization and in the exercise of their own activities, with due observance of the Constitution and the law.
2. The State promotes the cooperation with the different religious denominations that contribute to the well-being of the people of East Timor.
Article 16. Universality and Equality
1. All citizens are equal before the law, shall exercise the same rights and shall be subject to the same duties.
2. No one may be discriminated against on grounds of color, race, marital status, gender, ethnic origin, social or economic status, political or ideological convictions, religion, education or physical or mental condition.
Article 17. Equality Between Women and Men
Women and men have the same rights and duties in all areas of political, economic, social, cultural and family life.
Article 18. Child Protection
1. Children are entitled to special protection by the family, the community and the State, particularly against all forms of abandonment, discrimination, violence, oppression, sexual abuse and exploitation.
2. Children shall enjoy all rights that are universally recognized, as well as all those that are enshrined in international conventions normally ratified or approved by the State.
3. Every child born in or outside wedlock shall enjoy the same rights and social protection.
Article 21. Disabled Citizen
1. A disabled citizen shall enjoy the same rights and shall be subject to the same duties as all other citizens, except for the rights and duties which they are unable to exercise or fulfill due to their disability.
2. The State shall promote the protection of disabled citizens as may be practicable and in accordance with the law.
Article 28. Right to Resistance and Self-Defense
1. All citizens have the right to disobey and to resist illegal orders or orders that affect their fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees.
2. The right to self-defense is guaranteed to all, in accordance with the law.
Article 30. Right to Freedom, Security and Personal Integrity
1. All have the right to freedom, security and personal integrity.
2. No one shall be arrested or detained, except under the terms clearly provided for by applicable law, and the order of arrest or detention should always be presented for consideration by the competent judge within the legal time frame.
3. Any individual who is deprived of freedom shall be immediately informed, in a clear and precise manner, of the reasons for the detention or arrest, as well as of their rights, and allowed to contact a lawyer, directly or through a relative or a trusted person.
4. No one shall be subjected to torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.
Article 31. Application of Criminal Law
1. No one can be subjected to trial, except in accordance with the law.
2. No one can be tried and convicted for an act that does not qualify in the law as a criminal offence at the moment it was committed, nor endure security measures the provisions of which are not expressly established in previous law.
3. Penalties or security measures not expressly provided for by law at the moment the criminal offence was committed cannot be enforced.
4. No one can be tried and convicted for the same criminal offense more than once.
5. Criminal law cannot be enforced retroactively, except when the new law is in favor of the accused.
6. Anyone who has been unjustly convicted has the right to a fair compensation in accordance with the law.
Article 34. Guarantees in Criminal Proceedings
1. Everyone charged with an offence is presumed innocent until convicted.
2. An accused person has the right to select, and be assisted by a lawyer at all states of the proceedings and the law shall determine the circumstances for which the presence of the lawyer is obligatory.
3. Every individual is guaranteed the inviolable right of a hearing and defense in criminal proceedings.
4. Evidence is of no effect if obtained by torture, coercion, infringement of the physical or moral integrity of the individual, or wrongful interference with private life, the domicile, correspondence or other forms of communication.
Article 42. Freedom of Assembly and Manifestation
1. All are guaranteed the freedom to assemble peacefully and unarmed, without a need of prior authorization.
2. To all is recognized the right of manifestation in accordance with the law.
Article 45. Freedom of Conscience, Religion and Worship
1. To all is guaranteed the freedom of conscience, religion and worship and the religious denominations that are separated from the State.
2. No one can be persecuted or discriminated against on the basis of their religious convictions.
3. The right to be a conscientious objector is guaranteed in accordance with the law.
4. The freedom to teach any religion in the framework of the respective religious denomination is guaranteed.
Article 53. Consumer Rights
1. Consumers have the right to goods and services of good quality, to truthful information and protection of their health, safety and economic interests, and to reparation for damages.
2. Advertising is regulated by law, and all forms of concealed, indirect or misleading advertising are prohibited.
Article 55. Obligations of the Taxpayer
Every citizen with a certified income has the duty to pay tax in order to contribute to public revenues, in accordance with the law.
Article 57. Health
1. All have the right to health and medical care, and the duty to protect and promote them.
2. The State promotes the establishment of a national health service that is universal and general. The national health service shall be free of charge in accordance with the possibilities of the State and in conformity with the law.
3. The national health service shall have, as much as possible, a decentralized participatory management.
Article 58. Housing
All have the right to housing for themselves and their family, of adequate size that meets satisfactory standards of hygiene and comfort and preserves personal intimacy and family privacy.
Facts of Timor-Leste's Constitution
Article 2. Sovereignty and Constitutionality
● Sovereignty resides in the people, who exercise it in accordance with the Constitution.
● The State is subject to the Constitution and to the laws.
● The validity of the laws and other actions of the State depend upon their compliance with the Constitution.
● The State recognizes customary laws of East Timor, subject to the Constitution and to any legislation dealing specifically with customary law.
Article 5. Decentralization
1. The State respects, on matters of territorial organization, the principle of the decentralization of public administration.
2. The law determines and establishes and the characteristics of the different territorial levels and the administrative competences of the respective organs.
3. Oecussi Ambeno and Ataúro enjoy special administrative and economic treatment.
Article 54. Right to Private Property (Part of it)
● Every individual has the right to private property and can transfer it during their lifetime or on death, in accordance with the law.
● Private property shall not be used to the detriment of its social function.
● The requisitioning and expropriation of property for public purposes shall only take place following fair compensation in accordance with the law.
Article 77. Inauguration and Swearing-In (Part of it)
● At the swearing-in ceremony, the President of the Republic shall take the following oath:
I swear to God,
to the people and on my honor that I will fulfill with loyalty the
functions that have been invested in me, will abide by and enforce the
Constitution and the laws and will dedicate all my energies and
capacities to the defense and consolidation of independence and national
unity."
Article 96. Legislative Authorization
1. The National Parliament may authorize the government to make laws concerning the following matters:
a. definition of crimes, sentences, security measures and respective prerequisites;
b. definition of civil and criminal procedure;
c. organization of the Judiciary and status of magistrates;
d. general rules and regulations for the public service, the status of the civil servants and the responsibility of the State;
e. general bases for the organization of public administration;
f. monetary system;
g. banking and financial system;
h. definition of the bases for a policy of protection of the environment and sustainable development;
i. general rules and regulations for radio and television broadcasting and other mass media communication;
j. military or civic service;
k. general rules and regulations for the requisition and expropriation for public utility;
l. means and ways of intervention, expropriation, nationalization and privatization of means of production and soils on grounds of public interest, as well as criteria for the establishment of compensation in such cases.
2. Laws on legislative authorization shall define the subject, sense, scope and duration of the authorization, which may be renewed.
3. Laws on legislative authorization cannot be used more than once and shall lapse with the dismissal of the Government, with the end of the legislative term or with the dissolution of the National Parliament.
