1. The new Land laws and their likely impact in rural areas
Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for inviting me to present about the….. I will try to speak in English, I hope that all of you will understand.
Lao Hamutuk…is National NGO we work for Monitoring, Research and Advocacy for public policy. LH exist more than 18 year all, and we want to influence the decision maker to promote sustainable development and baze on the Timor-Leste situation, thanks
MARIANO FERREIRA
Lao hamutuk & rede ba rai
ANU-Canberra, Timor-Leste up-date, 21–22 June 2018

2. Land function in Timor-Leste The New Land Law process
Content
Rural Area Context
Land function in Timor-Leste
The New Land Law process
Likely impact to rural area
Conclusion
I will start my presentation with some information about Timor-Leste in relation to land.
Particularly Land function in rural area , Then I will move to more details about the new land law process and its impact.

3. Context in rural area - Female 412,888 (49%) - Male 421,547 (51%)
1. Population of rural areas (70%)
- Female 412,888 (49%)
- Male 421,547 (51%)
2. Occupation: farmers and fishery workers (74%)
3. Average household cultivated land is less then 1ha (45%)
4. Nearly half of the population still lives in poverty
Source; Sensus 2015, MOF
1 Timor-Leste is a small country with only a population of about 1.1 Million, and 70% of them are living in rural area.
2.The main majority of Timorese are farmers and fisheries workers, about 74%
3. Even the majority of our people is farmers, but most them do not have big land. The 2015 census showed that 45% of Timorese households have less than 1ha area of land.
4. Poverty is still the main problem in the country with nearly half of the population still live under poverty line.
Since the independence the government has implemented many programs to develop the country, but development also bring some challenges in term of land.

4. Land functions in Timor-Leste
Land places a key role in Timorese origin and identity
Signifies places occupied by our ancestors’ spirits
Various socio-cultural functions linked to tradition and nature (tara bandu, ritual ceremonies)
Collective economic function
As in many other countries, Timor-Leste has its own practices and cultures regarding to land.
In Timor-Leste, land is part of our identity. It determines our origin, because our ancestors lived there more thousand of years, they use land as place to build their house, traditional house for ritual practice, source of their livelihoods, place to celebrate traditional ceremonies, etc..
If we want to understand the impact of the land law on rural communities we must understand that, land is not only a commodity but that it has many functions.

5. Land laws process 2009 Land Law Drafting Begins 2012
Parliament Approves the Land Law
President Vetoes
2013
Laws are re-drafted by Ministry of Justice
2016
New debates are held in parliament
2017
Land Law is promulgated
The land law process started in 2009, MJ produced the first draft.
Parliament approved the laws in 2012
But they were Vetoed by President Ramos Horta in 2012
Does not reflect the communities need
Government consultation process had been insufficient
Does not resolve the injustice created in the past
In 2013 the Ministry of Justice began re-drafting the laws however the legislation remained pending for many years
In 2016 new debates began in Parliament
The law was finally promulgated by President Lu Olo in 2017 and came into effect in September 2017
However to be implemented the law will need more than 16 other pieces of legislation

6. Positive aspects of the New Land Law
Gives some legal certainty and allows land titles to be issued to households which do not have them
Provides equal rights for men and women
Includes a special provision for vulnerable groups
Recognizes informal rights
Many people in Timor-Leste (in urban and rural areas) do not have clear ownership rights to the land that they live on. There are many people living on the land of unclear status… The new land laws will help to give some legal certainty because it lays down a process for resolving land disputes and issuing land titles.
2. Society in Timor-Leste is quite Patriarchal (dominate by Man). A positive aspect is that the new land laws give equal rights to men and women, but we will need to see how this is implemented in the future.
3. There are also special provisions for vulnerable groups.
4. Most people in Timor-Leste had no opportunity to get land titles during the Portuguese and Indonesian era…. This new land law recognizes that these people should have ownership rights to land ……and it says that these ‘informal rights’ are the same as freehold property rights.

7. Likely impact on rural areas
Even though the land law will have some positive impacts, it will also potentially have some negative impacts. The rest of my
presentation will focus on the potential impacts to rural areas.

8. Likely impact on rural areaS
1. The rights of people who have been forcibly displaced are not protected in the final version of the new land law
More than Three Hundred Thousand people were forcibly displaced during the Indonesian occupation. Many people lost their lands because of conflict, corruption and the use of force.
Many of the people who were displaced by violence, and came back to find their lands being used by other people or by the state until today.

9. Likely impact on rural areaS
Rights of people forcibly displaced Original Draft: Special adverse possession (Article 20) gives protection to all people who have possession and have been on land since before 31st of December 1998.
The original version of the land law established a special rule of adverse possession (Article 20). It said that if someone was living on land since before 31st of December 1998 and was still living on the land, then he or she could get a land title to this land. This article was a positive thing as it gave some protection to the many people who were displaced during the Indonesian era.

10. Likely impact on rural areaS
Rights of people forcibly displaced Original Draft: Special adverse possession (Article 20) gives protection to all people who have possession and have been on land since before 31st of December Final Law: New sub-article (article 20.2) that says special adverse possession does NOT apply to people who were forcibly displaced.
In 2016 before sending the laws back to Parliament,...The Council of Ministers introduced a new sub-article (article 20.2) which stated that the special rule of adverse possession would NOT apply to people who had been forcibly displaced during the Indonesian era. The Council of Ministers also included a new article (75) which stated that these cases would be decided on a case-by-case basis and that where needed the state would pay compensation to interested parties.
However it is clear that it will have a Big impact on displaced communities who will not have strong land rights.
This article has positive and negative impacts. For traditional Land Owners it may give some advantages and allow them to reclaim their lands from people who came to live on them, during Indonesian era…. However for people who were forcibly displaced, from their own lands and have lived in these new communities for many years, they may not have any protection to their land rights in these new places……. This article will affect more then Three Hundred Thousand people forcibly dislocated
Many of these people have been living on these lands since the nineteen seventies or eighties. This has the potential to lead to new displacement, conflict and increased vulnerability. (Problematic Article)

11. Likely impact on rural area
2. Community Protection Zones and Community Property Article 23 Community Protection Zone Article 27 Community Property
The land law introduces a whole Chapter providing protection to community land. It establishes a two concepts:
Community Protection Zones and Community Property, is a new concept that we have adopted in order to Formalize our customary land (Rai Lisan).
In Timor-Leste we don’t use the Term community land, We have Rai lisan which is a traditional system based on clans or ancestor groups. Rai lisan governs both individual lands and communal land including land that is unused.
According to Rai lisan, all land belongs (milik) to the community. However the new land law says in article 9.4 that unused land now belongs to the state. So this law contradicts the traditional system which may create some conflicts.

12. This picture is an example of customary land in Timor-Leste
This picture is an example of customary land in Timor-Leste. In this land we have individual houses, school buildings, traditional house and empty land. According to the new land law, the school building is part of the state land but community still consider it as part of the customary land. The community just offer the land to build school.

13. Likely impact on rural areaS
3. The final version of the land laws do not protect against the threat of eviction Original Draft: Chapter 8 provided many protections against eviction. Final Law: Chapter 8 was removed and replaced by more general article which states that evictions must guarantee human dignity, rights and security.
The old version of the law included a Chapter which provided protections against eviction. However all of these protections were removed from the final version of the law by the Council of Ministers before it was approved.
The new law still includes a basic protection in Article 76 which states that evictions must guarantee human dignity, rights and security, however it does not provide any details and states that evictions will be further regulated by decree law.
There are many threats (ameasa) to human rights and rural livelihoods that may occur (terjadi) if large numbers of people are evicted under this law. Over the last number of years, civil society have monitored the impacts of evictions on communities in rural areas and seen that evictions (even where compensation is paid) can lead to increased vulnerability….For example even when compensation is paid, because communities have little experience with managing large amounts of money, the money is spent quickly and communities are left with no land and no money.

14. Likely impact on rural areaS
4. The new land law threatens the use of land as a social safety net
Land ensures basic equality
The land law opens land up to a market oriented
Currently land provides a social safety net for people. While our nation is very poor, land ensures some basic equality, the capacity to feed yourself and your family.
The new land law extends concept of land Registration, Titling and a land Market to rural areas. This orients our land to a market oriented approach where individuals with money will have access to more land. If over time our land becomes privatized and more expensive poorer farmers will become locked out of the land market and no longer have this social security net.
Even though the land law states that the function of the law is eventually to ensure distribution of land there are no clear articles relating to this in the law.

15. Conclusion The law may have negative impacts on rural communities:
Communities that were forcibly displaced in the Indonesian era do not have strong rights
Protections for customary land are not strong enough
Protections against eviction are not strong enough
In order to be implemented the law will need many subsidiary laws and policies
Further consultation and policy analysis is needed on these laws
Even though the land law has many positive objectives it will potentially have some negative impacts on rural communities.
Communities that were forcibly displaced during the Indonesian occupation do not have strong rights
The law does not give strong protections against eviction and does not place clear duties on the state in relation to evictions.
The law does not give strong protections to customary land or rai lisan which is the majority of rural land in Timor Leste.
Depending on interpretation the law may allow the state to take large amounts of community land inside Community Protection Zones.
In order to implement this land law, the government will have to prepare many new laws and regulations. Before drafting these complementary pieces of legislation the state must carefully analyze the context and carry out consultations with communities.

16. Obrigado Thanks
That is all my speak today, I hope all of you understand my ingles, I be able to share more about the issue.