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Nicholson, Pip; Hinderling, Samantha --- "Court development in Timor-Leste: ‘Handover’ and its long shadow" [2018] ELECD 629; in May, Christopher; Winchester, Adam (eds), "Handbook on the Rule of Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018) 509

Book Title: Handbook on the Rule of Law

Editor(s): May, Christopher; Winchester, Adam

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN: 9781786432438

Section: Chapter 30

Section Title: Court development in Timor-Leste: ‘Handover’ and its long shadow

Author(s): Nicholson, Pip; Hinderling, Samantha

Number of pages: 22

Abstract/Description:

There is a substantial investment in rule of law globally: in the context of peace building, development and reconstruction. The recipients’ experience of legal sector assistance, however, remains under-explored. With Timor Leste as its focus, this chapter places the local experience of post-conflict rule of law interventions, and specifically court reform, under the microscope. The authors analyse local Timorese narratives around court reform with a critical focus on the United Nation’s assumed paradigm of ownership via ‘adoption’ through post-mission ‘handover’: a paradigm that informed much of Timor Leste’s post-conflict rule of law efforts. This chapter highlights how justice sector interventions that are ill-conceived and unidirectional can have fundamental and unintended consequences.