Its success depends on international assistance from the U.N. and from interested parties like Australia, which leads the multinational peacekeeping force Interfet, and Portugal, the former colonial power. More than anyone else, success depends on the East Timorese. For the moment, the aspirations of the East Timorese are embodied in the National Consultative Council, a 15-member committee which the U.N. consults on all decisions. The council has its work cut out. One problem is that members are not fully united on what needs to be done and when.
Different agendas have to be accommodated, and things move slowly because consensus is required.
The forging of a new judicial system has begun, with the first eight judges and two prosecutors sworn in at the newly refurbished district courthouse in Dili. For the first time, justice will be meted out by the Timorese. This is the new justice we will bring to East Timor. Already there are signs that implementing the new justice will be a difficult task. The independence struggle has left deep wounds among the East Timorese which will take generations to heal.