EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO PREVENT AND COMBAT CORRUPTION
AND TO ENCOURAGE COOPERATION BETWEEN THE PUBLIC ANDPRIVATE SECTORS
Rosito Amaral

I. INTRODUCTION
Timor-Leste is a new country that restored its independence in 2002.Timor-Leste is a nation facing
many problems to develop various aspects of life,particularly justice and the legal system.However,slowly but surely the nation has made some progress in the criminal justice system as a key element
to support the development of a democratic state based on the rule of law including to generate cleana government devoid of nepotism, and collusion, and to establish the necessary framework forpreventing and combating corruption in Timor-Leste.
Timor-Leste has taken significant steps against corruption issues since the restoration of theindependence (2002).The first Constitutional Government established the Office of the Inspector
General (OIG)under the Office of the Prime Minister with the tasks of inspection,auditing andinvestigation.1To generate clean government,in May 2004,Timor-Leste established the office of the Provedor for
Human Rights and Justice (Ombudsman) which effectively functioned in 2005.2 “The Provedor wasresponsible for promoting and monitoring good governance,human rights and justice,and combating
corruption.”3
With the phenomenon of corruption that exists,on 2008 the National Parliament of the Democratic
Republic of Timor-Leste ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC).
Timor-Leste ratified the UNCAC in 2008. As new country, with so many competing priorities, theratification of UNCAC marked an important step in assuring good governance, and represented
Timor-Lesteʼs serious efforts to prevent and combating corruption.

II. ANTI-CORRUPTION COMMISSION TIMOR-LESTE (ACC-TL)
Corruption is widely acknowledged as a complex and multi-dimensional phenomena with negative
consequences that extend beyond the sphere ofethics and moral.Corruption has an impact on the socialand economic life and threatens the basis of democratic states under the rule of law. In 2009, theNational Parliament of Timor-Leste in accordance with Law No. 8/2009 established the AntiCorruption Commission body with an expanded mandate on preventing and fighting corruption.
Criminal Investigation of corruption cases is supervised by the Office of Prosecutor General.4 Thenature of the Commission in according to article 3 is technically independent and administratively andfinancially autonomous. The Commission is given the status of specialized and Independent Criminal
Police authority and its action is governed exclusively by statute and,in its capacity as criminal police
authority, the Commission acts under the authorities of competent jurisdictions.
In its fight against corruption the commission embraces a three-pronged approach including as
corruption prevention, and public education. The success in fight against corruption is dependent on
Senior Investigator, Anti-Corruption Commission, Timor-Leste.
1Implementation Review Group, Third Session. Executive Summary, CAC/COSP/IP/2012/CRP.8, 1 (22 Jun. 2012).
2Ibid.
3Ibid.
4DecreeLaw no. 8/2009, Establishment of Anti Corruption Commission (CAC).

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high ethical standards being maintained in all dealing and reporting of corruption cases to commission
whenever it occur.
A. Investigation
The Commissions used two ways of starting an investigation such as through the dispatch of a
Prosecutor, and it can start its own investigation, but needs to inform the Prosecutor in 72 hours inorder to get a formal dispatch from Prosecutor.As a Special Criminal Police body,the Commission has
the power to receive records of any cases of corruption reported by the public such as written orunwritten reports. Incoming information reports, either written or oral reports, are required to berecorded manually or electronically. All reports are categorized as corruption. In accordance witharticle 49 paragraph 3 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the investigator will notify the office of theProsecutor General (OPG)as the penal prosecution.
The Commission not only receives reporting cases from the public,but accepts other cases recommended by other government agencies such as the Inspectorate General of the State and recommendation cases from Ombudsmen as well as cases reported by the Civil Service Commission Office.
All reported cases by the agencies will be analyzed by the Criminal Investigation Division. If theanalysis discovers sufficient evidence of corruption,then the Anti-Corruption Commission immediately
reports to the Prosecutorʼs Office which has the legal power to enforce the Corruption Act.
On the other hand, the Commission may also use its own initiative to proactively gather all theinformation from reliable sources that voluntarily want to cooperate with the CAC in fighting corruption in Timor-Leste. Starting from the year 2010 until 2012, the Criminal Investigation Division is toinvestigate corruption cases of both passive and active corruption,such as abuse of power,embezzlement, economic participation and business.
B. Public Education
In order to prevent corruption, the Commission uses public education and campaigns to share
information and knowledge as well as provided education to the public about the impact of corruption
itself through training programmes or workshops to the youth,community leaders,private sector andacademics from primary school up to university, and delivers messages to the public through print
media, electronic television, radio, etc. The activities are carried out at the national level and thedistricts levels.Also the commission provides education in order to monitor use or movement in orderto save government facilities.
C. Prevention of Corruption
The Prevention of Corruption Division plays an important role to collect and analyse all theinformation related to the prevention of criminal acts of corruption which advises all government
authorities in order to find the solution about corruption in the public sector,especially the use of state
finances.
In the prevention of corruption,the Commission gets closer to the public sector in the fight against
corruption, by making formal contacts and holding intensive meetings with government officials
through seminars or workshops in order to distance themselves from the practice of corruption.
Essentially the purpose of the meeting and the workshop is how each individual is a public servant,starting from the top leadership to subordinates and to know how to control both procedures relating
to tendering or bidding any project ― whether it is done by the private sector of national andinternational companies.
In addition to workshops,the Prevention of Corruption Division also approaches the authorities andcarries out monitoring and inspection of projects at the district level. The Prevention of Corruption
Division also conducts unannounced inspections of the implementation of projects in the field in order
to see the implementation of these projects physically and assures that the quality of materials used onthe project is in line with what has been planned.
Besides providing training to government officials, the Commission is also working with the275

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electoral commission (CNE)and held a workshop to all parties participating in the elections that will
follow the election in order to produce the transparency and creating a condition of a democracy andto avoid corruption in the election,based on the article 11 law no.6/2008 the legal regime of financialof the political parties.
The public and private sectors are important to the programmes of the Commission;therefore, inaddition to cooperating with government authorities and society in general, the prevention division
approach is to collect and analyze information related to corruption prevention measures in order toensure effectiveness in the public sector, particularly the implementation of the State budget.

III. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION5
The International Cooperation framework is established by the Constitution and the recent Law no.
15/2011 on International Judicial Cooperation in Criminal M atters. The Penal Code and the Criminal
Procedure Code also contain provisions applicable to international cooperation.
A. Extradition;Transfer of Sentenced Persons;Transfer of Criminal Proceedings(Articles 44, 45, 47)
Timor-Leste is a party to the Extradition Convention among the Portuguese Speaking Countries.
Timor-Leste has not concluded any bilateral extradition agreements. Preliminary discussions havebeen started with several neighbouring countries. It appears that, according to the Constitution and
Law No.15/2011,the Convention could be used as the legal basis for extradition by Timor-Leste on thecondition of reciprocity.
B. M utual Legal Assistance (Article 46)
Timor-Leste has not concluded bilateral agreements on mutual legal assistance.Law 15/2011 allows
Timor-Leste to give and ask for assistance, including search for and seizure of objects or property,
persons in transit,warrant service and to interview the suspect,the accused person,witness or expert,
the procurement of evidence, notice of the action and service of documents, and communication ofinformation about the law or the laws of the foreign Timor,as well as the communication of information relating to judicial records of the suspect, accused or convicted. Mutual assistance can be madethrough the Department of Justice and the Office of General Prosecutor appropriate existing international agreements.
C. Law Enforcement Cooperation;Joint Investigations;Special Investigative Techniques(Articles 48, 49, 50)
The police have cooperated with other police forces of the region, either directly or through theInterpol network, both spontaneously and upon request, only regarding organized crime matters.
Cooperation includes the establishment of joint investigation teams and transmission of information
which may be useful for foreign police forces. Special investigative techniques may be used by thepolice, CAC, and the future Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) if allowed by a court decision. Suchmeasures include wiretapping, interception of telecommunications, undercover operations, andcontrolled deliveries. Taking into account the legal and institutional context, the reviewers wereconfident that law enforcement cooperation would be significantly enhanced in the coming years.
D. Challenges
The Anti-Corruption Commission has been facing several challenges in the performance of its
functions during the past three years because the Government and National Parliament are not serious
about approving the Anti-Corruption legislation draft that has been sent to the National Parliament
several years ago. Timor-Leste has a Witness Protection law to protect the witnesses;however, inreality,the law has still not been implemented yet.It is important that all public officials declare theirincome and assets (asset declaration) and to establish a registry system accessible by the public.
Furthermore,according to research and evaluation by the Anti-Corruption Commission,45 percent ofsociety still lacks sufficient knowledge to form an understanding about corruption matters;however,

5See Executive Summary, supra, at n. 2.

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s expectation to punish the corrupt actors is high.
E. The Way Forward
Cooperation and coordination among the Anti-Corruption Commission and other state institutions
are improving, and also the Commission has a very good relationship with the Public Prosecutorʼ
sOffice, the General Inspectorate of the State, the National Police, and the Ombudsmanʼs Office. TheCommission has explored cooperation with civil society so as to grow a culture of anti-corruption at
the grassroots level. In addition, the Commission is strengthening its institutional capacity and legal
framework (i.e., capacity building for investigators). Finally, the Commission is always looking foropportunities to engage in international cooperation.
References
Activities of the Criminal Investigation Division of the CAC.
Annual Report of Anti-Corruption Commission, 2012.
Bulletin CAC, three years existence of CAC 2012/2013.
Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, August 2001.
Decree-Law No. 8/2009, Establishment of Anti-Corruption Commission (CAC).
Implementation Review Group, Third Session. Executive Summary, CAC/COSP/IP/2012/CRP.8, 1 (22Jun. 2012).
Internal Standard Operation procedure (SOP)Investigation Division 2011.

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