TIMOR-LESTEFORMS OF CORRUPTION IN TIMOR-LESTE AND ITSCOUNTERMEASURES
Matias Soares *Corruption is a pernicious phenomenon that subverts the fundamental values of life insociety. Corruption undermines the foundations of the democratic rule of law, distorting thefair distribution of national wealth, fostering divisions and friction in society. In a word,
corruption attacks justice and social harmony. Fundamental principles of the Constitution suchas the university of laws, equality and legality are emptied of content in favour of the particularinterests of some unscrupulous people. As it is today a global phenomenon of increasingly
difficult persecution and combat, it is imperative that the Timorese State adopt exceptional
measures to ensure greater effectiveness in the fight against this crime.
The fight against passive corruption, therefore, must be assumed by everyone and provided
with legal mechanisms that allow facing its hidden nature because, although it offends thefoundations of the State, it ends up not having anyone, in particular, as a victim. The Timorese
legal framework already has legal instruments to prevent and combat corruption and associatedcrimes, such as the Penal Code and the legal regime for preventing and combating moneylaundering and the financing of terrorism. In the current context, it is important, in coherencewith the existing legal framework, to establish new measures to prevent and fight corruption.
Therefore, it was understood that this law should contain, as it does, provisions of a preventive
and not just criminal nature. And, in this context, it was also considered convenient to havealready provided here about the regime for the declaration of income, assets and interests.
Regarding criminal matters, it was decided to concentrate all corruption crimes in a single
legal diploma, which resulted in the expurgation of those provided for in the Penal Code andtheir inclusion in this law, together with the new types that it enshrines.
Timor-Leste is one of the world's youngest and Asia’s poorest countries, and the country isunder development in various aspects of the country. The weakness of the regulatory andinstitutional framework in Timor-Leste is exposed to being targeted as a layering country inglobal money-laundering schemes, as well as losing public money through corruption,embezzlement and tax evasion and other crimes that are committed by public servants relating
to the projects and public tenders. According to World Bank estimates, countries lose around
2 per cent of GDP annually due to corruption: in other words, approximately 60 million USD.
The regulation and legal framework, especially penal code, entered into force in 2009, and thatsame the Anti-Corruption Commission (CAC) was established with the main task of theprevention of corruption.
Ten years later in year of 2020, the Timor-Leste National Parliament approved and thePresident of Republic promulgated a new law that defines the new measures to prevent andfight against corruption. The law was published and came into force in February 2021.

*

Prosecutor of the Republic, General Prosecution Office, Timor-Leste.

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The objective of the new law is the necessary mechanisms for an effective fight against
corruption in order to meet the Constitution’s fundamental principles, such as the universalityof rights, equality and legality. The new law describes the general measures to prevent
corruption and the income, assets and interests declaring regime. The corruption crimes, theapplicable penalties and the special means of obtaining and retaining evidence are also defined.
This law also changes other pieces of legislation related to preventing and combating
corruption, namely the Penal Code, highlighting the creation of the new categories of illegal
acts and the concentration of all corruption crimes in a single legal diploma.
With regard to the public sector, the Law 7/2020 provides guidelines that emphasize theneed to observe appropriate procedures for the selection and training of people for public office,the turnover of these people in these positions and, finally, the need of implementing a regulartraining programme for them. The law also proposed a set of rules to be developed in guiding
and regulating the conduct of public officials, in order to promote the personal behaviour
standards of integrity, honesty, responsibility and impartiality. In order to facilitate thereporting of corrupt acts, it is foreseen that police and judicial authorities may accept
anonymous complaints and protect the identity of whistle-blowers protection and protection
against reprisals.
This law also emphasizes the promotion of publicity and transparency in procurement andpublic procurement procedures. It is also stressed the need for procurement procedures forgoods and services acquisition to be carried out based on economic criteria and based on theprinciple of optimizing the cost and benefit relationship. Further, in addition to facilitating the
public access to the competent authorities, it is expected that the administrative procedures may
be simplified, thereby mitigating corruption opportunities.
Another innovation implemented through the law in question concerns the obligation for
all individuals in public service and their household members to declare income, assets andinterests, thus enabling the State to discover and prevent conflicts of interest and monitor more
efficiently the wealth variations, in order to identify significant and unjustified increases in the
declarant’s wealth. These statements may be completed in an electronic form, to be preparedand provided by the relevant authorities.
It is also defined that public institutions disclose their activity, operation and decisionmaking processes to the public, through regular publication of activity reports and their broad
dissemination through electronic media.
This law also recognizes the existence of more appropriate mechanisms to control
corruption, such as the accountability of legal persons. Thus, commercial companies thatengage in illegal practices such as bribery, influence peddling or other practices that result in
the removal of competitors in procurement procedures or money-laundering, for example, will
be held criminally liable.
This law also forbids public officials, for a two-year period after the end of his term, fromengaging in any activity in the private sector, whenever the service to be rendered or theemployment is directly related with the roles performed by him or under his supervision when
he was in office holding a public position.
Law 7/2020 defines corruption crimes as those committed while exercising public roles,
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a legal act, active corruption of a public official, embezzlement, embezzlement of public
property, violation of the participation right and equal candidacy in procurement, sale orconcession tenders, abuse of power, profiting from economic interest in business and conflictof interest. Whoever is convicted of a crime enshrined in this Law, punishable by imprisonment
for more than 5 years, is prohibited from taking or being in public offices for a period of 5 to
10 years.
Through the enactment and entry into force of this important law, Timor-Leste marked afundamental stage of the national cause to fight against corruption. However, the determining
factor of this effort goes beyond the enactment, which will be the institutional and social
preparations to rigorously implement the law, always maintaining the momentum and thepolitical will to fulfil the purposes of this law.
Responding to the new law, the Anti-Corruption Commission (CAC) of Timor-Leste,
assisted by UNODC has developed manuals on asset declaration and investigations for theCommission, and the manuals are used in the context of operationalizing the new AntiCorruption Law (2020), which introduces new criminalization of corruption elements. The law
also mandates the CAC to administer the new system for the declaration of income, assets andinterests, with a view to preventing conflicts of interest and facilitating the detection of sudden,
unjustified changes in wealth.
As part of the manual on asset declarations, assisted by the UNODC, the CAC has prepareda declaration form that is currently under review and being considered for approval by TimorLeste’s Supreme Court of Justice. The manual includes technical instructions on the form’s
effective use, in order to support verification, collation and analysis efforts within the country’s
legal framework. Another key element of the manual is a compendium detailing practical ways
to respond to borderline cases, such as wealth in crypto currencies, how to consider former
spouses and requirements for re-elected Members of Parliament.
Meanwhile, the manual on investigations looks comprehensively at all stages ofpreliminary and formal anti-corruption investigations, within the legal context of Timor-Leste.
Sections include the legal authority of the Commission, whistle-blowing, responding tocomplaints, financial and digital investigations, managing information, interviewing witnesses,
developing cases and asset recovery.
Multiple studies in different countries and sectors have shown the value of whistle-blowing
to detect fraud, corruption and other misconduct and its importance is often rated equally highas internal audits or due diligence checks. At the same time, challenges in reporting are very
high and acts of corruption remain largely under-reported, both by direct witnesses and bywhistle-blowers who come across alleged wrong doing in the workplace. Studies show that
potential whistle-blowers do not believe in appropriate follow-up to their report; they are afraidof retaliation ranging from negative consequences for their career to physical threats; they areafraid of civil or criminal liability; and they would not know where to receive advice.
Timor-Leste currently has no whistle-blowers' protection legal framework. A witness
protection law was enacted in 2009, but the operating procedures and institutionalarrangements to operationalize the law are still missing. The event resulted in a series ofrecommendations on how to develop these arrangements; Timorese authorities requested
follow-up support from the UNODC to establish the needed systems at the national level.

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Approved on 29 June 2009 by the National Parliament, the law that creates the AntiCorruption Commission aims to give the competence to the independent State specialized
criminal police that in its action will be based only on the criteria of legality and objectivity inarticulation with the competent authorities, as it is important for its credibility as a mechanism
to combat corruption.
Corruption is a phenomenon with negative consequences for society and the economy that
affects the principle of democracy and the rule of law and, given that fact, the IV Constitutional
Government wrote and proposed to the National Parliament a legal framework for the CAC.
This is a clear example of ethics, responsibility and transparency in governance according to
the principles set out in the Constitution and reflecting the spirit of the United Nations
Convention against Corruption.
The CAC reports to the Parliament but is otherwise fully independent. It has the power tobegin and conduct criminal investigations related to corruption cases, according to the criminal
code. Besides that, it also has the role of education and public awareness, by identifying andpromoting the measures that prevent corruption.
Corruption cases are also connected with transnational organized crime, which ischaracterized by having high profits and involving more than one person and one country as
its main scope, violates human rights, causes damage and undermines the socio-economic
development of countries. The advent of communication technologies, the interconnection of
the world economy and the greater circulation of people, goods and services, created favourable
conditions for organized crime to globalize its activities, becoming a stateless organization,
which stopped being contained within the limits of physical borders of a country, having similar
characteristics in the different countries, and that makes the use of the most modern technology
one of the mechanisms of it global strategy.
Faced with a criminal phenomenon with similar characteristics, responses focused only on
the internal mechanisms of each country will be doomed to failure. Therefore, the response totransnational organized crime will have to be coordinated, and by international legislative
systems in which the main focus should be on cooperation between the different organs of thedifferent States, with responsibility for the prevention and repression of crime. Therefore, it isnecessary to strengthen the rule of law and the institutions responsible for the investigation,prosecution and adjudication of transnational organized crime at the level of each affected State
and, at the same time, to strengthen the State’s mechanisms for international legal and judicial
cooperation. In this context, States are faced with the challenge of ratifying and adopting theirdomestic legal systems, the most important international conventions whose main purpose is
to combat organized crime, and which encourage cooperation and mutual international legal
assistance.
The Timor-Leste Parliament also adopted the United Nations Convention against
Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo, 2000) and the United Nations Convention against
Corruption (Mérida, 2003). The adoption of these conventions that encourage international
legal and judicial cooperation mean that Timor-Leste is able to ensure not only due legal
processes, but above all that the borders of countries do not impede the fight against crime.
These conventions ensure that criminals who commit cross-border crime can be pursued, triedand held criminally responsible.

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By generating transnational organized crime with high profits, its fight also will only beeffective insofar as the assets and advantages generated by it are effectively reverted to theState, through mechanisms of widespread loss, of assets and advantages of the crime that once
reverted in favour of the States should preferably be used to strengthen the rule of law and theinstitutions of the States responsible for fighting crime.
Aware of the damage that transnational organized crime is capable of causing and,
convinced that acting in isolation, it will not be possible to effectively fight these criminal
phenomena, Timor-Leste not only ratified the most important United Nations Conventions
mentioned above, but also approved specific legislation on the preventing and fighting moneylaundering and terrorist financing, which establishes special measures to collect evidence,
breach of confidentiality and loss of assets in favour of the State not only in relation to moneylaundering and terrorist financing, but also to a wide range of serious crimes. Timor-Leste also
approved specific legislation that regulates international legal and judicial cooperation incriminal matters, to favour and encourage cooperation and mutual assistance.
International, bilateral and multilateral conventions, ratified by Timor-Leste, under theterms of domestic law, are the main sources of international judicial cooperation and prevailover the legislation, with the exception of the Constitution of the Republic. In addition to theConventions, agreements and treaties, there are two other main sources that regulateinternational judicial cooperation: the Constitution of the Republic and Law No. 15/2011, of26 October.
Due to lack of understanding about the laws and regulations regarding the public
administration service, many public servants and high-level government officials are involvedin maladministration and corruption. The impact is that public projects lack sufficient quality,
so the public prosecutors have to investigate many cases such as embezzlement, tax fraud,falsification of public documents, harmful administration, economic participation in businessand many more.
Internally, the Public Prosecution of Timor-Leste can utilize a new law that entered into
force on 17 August 2022 that regulates the Central Office for Combating Corruption andOrganized Crime, which was already established in 2015. During this year from January to
July, the Central Office for Combating Corruption and Organized Crime was handlinginvestigations of about 48 cases and most cases about embezzlement, tax fraud, falsification of
public document, harmful administration, economic participation in business, abuse of power
and others.
These were the ideas and information that I would like to share with the distinguishedcolleagues in this forum and my sincere thanks to the UNAFEI for inviting me to thisconference.

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