Traditional Justice Systems Offer Speed in Timor-Leste but Pose Significant Human Rights Challenges for Women

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FORMOSA NEWS

Field research conducted in 2020 by Hercus Pereira Dos Santos from the Instituto de São João de Brito in Ulmera Likisa, Timor-Leste, reveals that customary law remains the primary dispute resolution mechanism for rural Timorese communities. Published in the International Journal of Integrative Sciences in July 2026, the study examines how traditional justice structures operating under legal pluralism offer swift reconciliation but continue to exclude women from decision-making roles and rely on supernatural fears to compel compliance. These findings highlight a critical friction point between deeply rooted community customs and international human rights frameworks in post-independence Timor-Leste.

Background: A Dual System of Law in Modern Timor-Leste

More than two decades after gaining independence on May 20, 2002, Timor-Leste operates under a framework of legal pluralism. While the formal state justice system is built on Western democratic principles introduced during the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), the majority of the population relies on unwritten customary law (lisan) handed down through generations.

Centuries of Portuguese indirect colonial rule and decades of Indonesian occupation left local community governance largely untouched at the grassroots level. Today, formal state courts face severe challenges, including geographic isolation from rural villages, high financial costs, and extreme procedural delays where cases routinely take four to five years to receive a court notification. Article 123(5) of the Constitution of Timor-Leste tacitly supports non-jurisdictional conflict resolution, leading state authorities and local leaders to rely heavily on traditional mechanisms to maintain social cohesion.

Research Methodology

Hercus Pereira Dos Santos utilized an empirical socio-legal research design grounded in legal anthropology. The empirical data collection was carried out through primary field interviews in 2020 across three distinct regional settings:

• Ulmera Suco: Located in the Bazartete administrative post, Liquiça municipality (western region).
• Funar Suco: Situated in the Laklubar administrative post, Manatuto municipality (central highlands), historically the center of an ancient kingdom.
• Comoro Suco: Located in the capital city of Dili, interviewing displaced practitioners originally from Batara suco.

Dos Santos interviewed five key community figures selected purposively to evaluate both established leadership and youth perspectives: a suco chief, an elder (katuas) and former liurai (traditional chief), a village elder, a young mechanic active in customary proceedings, and a young student. Qualitative data from these semi-structured interviews were cross-analyzed against legal documents—including the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Justice Sector Strategic Plan 2011–2030—as well as historical archives.

Key Findings: Why Communities Prefer Customary Law

The field data demonstrates that local populations maintain high levels of trust in traditional justice over the state judicial apparatus due to four main factors:

• Speed and Accessibility: Traditional disputes managed by local elders or customary mediators (liana'in) are resolved rapidly without the financial burden or long travel required by formal courts.
• Focus on Mutual Reconciliation (Nahe Biti): Unlike state courts that assign individual guilt and penalize offenders, traditional justice aims to restore harmony between extended family lines (umane-fetosan). In customary proceedings, outcomes are designed so that all parties achieve reconciliation rather than a binary winner-and-loser outcome.
• Supernatural Authority: Compliance with customary rulings is heavily enforced through community belief in sacred house (uma lisan) power, spiritual curses, and ancestral oaths.
• Wide Range of Jurisdiction: Traditional justice regularly resolves land boundary disputes, theft, defamation, domestic arguments, and livestock damage.

"Traditional justice is very important to be developed better to support the community... Only traditional justice can contribute to stability. When it is only the State that seeks to maintain stability, this is not enough... But in traditional justice, populations are afraid of lisan (supernatural power), curse, etc." — Elder of Ulmera Suco, quoted in the study by Hercus Pereira Dos Santos, Instituto de São João de Brito.

Limitations and Human Rights Tensions

Despite its practical advantages, Hercus Pereira Dos Santos identifies severe ethical and structural limitations within current customary practices:

Exclusion of Women

Customary justice councils are overwhelmingly patriarchal. While women are permitted to offer suggestions or opinions, final adjudications are made exclusively by men. Even within matrilineal descent structures, husbands typically exercise decision-making authority in public conflict resolution.

Historical Paradox of Female Leadership

Historical archives documented in the study show that female political exclusion is a relatively modern distortion. Archives from 1815 record at least 13 queens ruling Timorese kingdoms, including Funar. The erosion of female political authority was accelerated by Portuguese colonial policies and reinforced during the Indonesian occupation.

Coercion vs. Free Consent

Because traditional rulings are enforced by fear of spiritual retaliation or familial dishonor within the fetosanumane (wife-giver/wife-taker) hierarchy, individuals often feel compelled to accept decisions that infringe upon their personal rights.

Real-World Impact and Policy Recommendations

The findings offer actionable insights for policymakers, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and legal reformers in Timor-Leste:

• Formal Legal Alignment: The State of Timor-Leste should establish clear statutory regulations defining the jurisdiction of traditional practitioners while integrating human rights boundaries.
• Gender Equality Integration: Civil society organizations (such as ALFeLa) and state bodies must collaborate with liana'in and village chiefs to guarantee women formal decision-making seats on traditional dispute panels.
• Educational Initiatives: Legal training programs should be provided to customary leaders to bridge the gap between indigenous conflict resolution and constitutional human rights guarantees.

Preserving customary law as an intangible cultural heritage while reforming its gender practices will allow Timor-Leste to maintain rural stability without sacrificing international human rights standards.

Author Profile

Hercus Pereira Dos Santos holds an academic degree in law and serves as a researcher and faculty member at the Instituto de São João de Brito in Ulmera, Likisa, Timor-Leste. His academic expertise encompasses customary law, legal anthropology, legal pluralism, and human rights in Southeast Asia.

Source

Article Title: Customary Law Practices in Timorese Society: Traditional Justice, Legal Pluralism, and the Tension with Human Rights
Journal: International Journal of Integrative Sciences (IJIS)
Publication Date: July 21, 2026 (Vol. 5, No. 7, pp. 907–924)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55927/ijis.v5i7.53
URL : https://journalijis.my.id/index.php/ijis/index