Minister of Justice (Timor-Leste)

Minister of Justice
Coat of Arms of East Timor
Flag of East Timor
Flag of East Timor
since 1 July 2023
Ministry of Justice
StyleMinister
(informal)
His Excellency
(formal, diplomatic)
Member ofConstitutional Government
Reports toPrime Minister
AppointerPresident of East Timor
(following proposal by the Prime Minister of East Timor)
Inaugural holder
Formation1975 / 2000
WebsiteMinistry of Justice

The Minister of Justice (Portuguese: Ministro da Justiça, Tetum: Ministru Justisa) is a senior member of the Constitutional Government of East Timor heading the Ministry of Justice.

Functions

The Minister has the power and the duty:

  1. to implement the policy defined for the Ministry of Justice;
  2. to ensure relations between the Government and the other organs of the State in the area of responsibility of the Ministry.[1]

Falling within those powers and duties are responsibilities such as overseeing the recruitment of judges, prosecutors, and public defenders.[2]

Where the Minister is in charge of the subject matter of a government statute, the Minister is also required, together with the Prime Minister, to sign the statute.[1]

Incumbent

The incumbent minister is Amândio Benevides [de].[3][4]

List of ministers

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister of Justice:[5]

No. Party Minister Portrait Government
(Prime Minister) 		Term start Term end Term in office
1 Fretilin António Duarte Carvarino Mau Lear [de] 1975 CoM
(Lobato) 		1 December 1975 17 December 1975 16 days
2 United Nations Gita Honwana-Welch I UNTAET
(Vieira de Mello) 		15 July 2000 20 September 2001 1 year, 67 days
3 Fretilin Ana Maria Pessoa II UNTAET
(Alkatiri) 		20 September 2001 20 May 2002 1 year, 180 days
I Constitutional
(Alkatiri) 		20 May 2002 19 March 2003
4 Domingos Sarmento [de] 19 March 2003 10 July 2006 4 years, 142 days
II Constitutional
(Ramos-Horta) 		10 July 2006 19 May 2007
III Constitutional
(da Silva) 		19 May 2007 8 August 2007
5 PSD Lúcia Lobato IV Constitutional
(Gusmão) 		8 August 2007 March 2012
(suspended) 		5 years, 0 days
(incl. suspension)
(acting) CNRT Ivo Valente [de] March 2012 8 August 2012 c. 145 days
6 Dionísio Babo Soares V Constitutional
(Gusmão) 		8 August 2012 16 February 2015 2 years, 192 days
7 Ivo Valente [de] VI Constitutional
(Araújo) 		16 February 2015 3 October 2017 2 years, 229 days
8 UDT Maria Ângela Guterres Viegas Carrascalão VII Constitutional
(Alkatiri) 		3 October 2017 22 June 2018 262 days
9 Independent Manuel Cárceres da Costa VIII Constitutional
(Ruak) 		22 June 2018 22 March 2022 3 years, 273 days
10 Tiago Amaral Sarmento 22 March 2022 1 July 2023 1 year, 101 days
11 CNRT Amândio Benevides [de] IX Constitutional
(Gusmão) 		1 July 2023 20 January 2024 203 days

References

  1. ^ a b "Constitution of East Timor, Section 117" (PDF). Government of Timor-Leste. 20 May 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ Silva, Kelly Cristiane da; Simião, Daniel Schroeter (2007). Timor-Leste por trás do palco: cooperação internacional e a dialética da formação do estado (in Portuguese). Editora UFMG. ISBN 9788570415981.
  3. ^ Martins, Filomeno (30 June 2023). "The list of structure of IX Constitutional Government announced in Official Gazette". Tatoli. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  4. ^ Sousa, Nelson de (1 July 2023). "PR Horta sei akompaña serbisu IX Governu" [President Horta will accompany the work of the IX Government] (in Tetum). Tatoli. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  5. ^ "História do Ministério: Ministros da Justiça Anteriores de Timor-Leste – Desde 2002" [History of the Ministry: Former Ministers of Justice of Timor-Leste – Since 2002]. Ministry of Justice (in Portuguese). Government of East Timor. Archived from the original on 12 August 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

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