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<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Date: Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:37:59
+1000<br>
From: Scott Rutar <scott.rutar@anu.edu.au><br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Dear Colleague </font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">The Centre for International
Governance and Justice and The Asia Foundation will be presenting a
seminar titled “Community Justice and Policing in Timor-Leste”.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Speakers include: Silas Everett,
Representative, The Asia Foundation, Timor-Leste and Thomas Parks,
Regional Conflict and Governance Advisor, The Asia Foundation<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">More details: Silas Everett and
Thomas Parks will speak about The Asia Foundation's access to justice
program and community policing program in Timor-Leste, in particular
about empirical evidence TAF has gathered through perception surveys on
policing & law and justice in Timor-Leste. <br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Time: 2:30 - 4:00 Friday 26 June<br>
Location:</font> <font face="Times New Roman, Times">Seminar Room 1.13
Ground floor Coombs Extension Building # 9</font> <br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Background: </font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">As a country in transition from
conflict to stability, Timor-Leste faces many challenges in ensuring
access to justice for all. Many individuals' attempts to exercise
fundamental rights through traditional dispute resolution mechanisms or
through the nascent formal justice sector often fail due to limited
financial resources, low awareness of options, and geographic isolation.
The Asia Foundation through the USAID funded<i> Access to Justice</i>
Program aims to bridge those gaps for vulnerable groups by funding<i> pro
bono</i> legal aid services, supporting enhanced mediation services,
increasing expertise to meet the particular justice needs of women, and
increasing awareness of laws and legal procedures vital to secure
livelihoods for vulnerable groups.<br>
</font><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Still less than ten years old, the
Timor-Leste national police force (PNTL) continues to face a range of
challenges. At its inception, only one in ten officers of the
3,000-strong PNTL had previous policing experience. Since then,
considerable assistance has been provided for training police officers,
developing policy, and re-working the structure of state security
institutions. Although vital, these technical efforts have not
incorporated community-level and civil society actors, and much less
attention has focused on assisting ‘community-police’ relations.
Experience has proven that technical assistance to police alone is
insufficient for improving security, and that it is also essential to
develop a set of community-oriented norms and practices for the conduct
of policing functions. However, while the PNTL is committed to working in
a community-oriented manner, it lacks both the material and the means to
do so. <br>
</font><br>
<font size=2>Scott Rutar</font> <br>
<font size=2>Centre Coordinator</font> <br>
<font size=2>Centre for International Governance & Justice
</font><br>
<font size=2>Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) </font><br>
<font size=2>College of Asia and The Pacific</font> <br>
<font size=2>Building 8 Coombs Extension</font> <br>
<font size=2>The Australian National University </font><br>
<font size=2>Acton ACT 0200 AUSTRALIA</font> <br><br>
<font size=2>T: +61 2 6125 3556 </font><br>
<font size=2>F: +61 2 6125 1507</font> <br>
<font size=2>W:
</font><a href="http://cigj.anu.edu.au"><font size=2 color="#0000FF"><u>
http://cigj.anu.edu.au</a></u></font><font size=2> <br>
</font><br>
<font size=2>ANU CRICOS Provider No. 00120C</font> <br>
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