DILI, 23 february 2024 (TATOLI) – The President is aware that this week the Court of Appeal handed down a decision in relation to the Law on the Procedure for Granting Pardons (Lei N.º 20/2023 de 12 De Dezembro Procedimento De Concessão de Indulto e Comutação De Pena). Up until today there has been no official notification given to the President by the Tribunal concerning their decision, even though it appears to involve questions relating to the competency of the President regarding his power to grant pardons.
On learning of the existence of the case and the decision from the media the President was disappointed that at no time did the Tribunal give him notice of the case or provide him with an opportunity to make submissions concerning his exclusive powers under the Constitution. The President hopes that in all future cases that raise constitutional issues, and especially those that affect the powers and duties of the President under the Constitution that the Tribunal will provide him with an opportunity to make submissions and to be provided with any decision made by the Tribunal as a mater of good practice.
Up until 2016 the President’s of Timor-Leste have properly given pardons without any legislative procedure having been created by the National Parliament. This situation was perfectly in accordance with the Constitution and was never questioned by any party. In 2016 the Parliament made its first law that purported to govern the pardons procedure. Since the approval of the 2016 law, President Ramos-Horta, as other presidents such as President Luolo, consistently expressed the view that the 2016 Law unconstitutionally restricted his exclusive powers to grant pardons.
In 2023 the National Parliament passed a new Law to overcome these concerns. In making the new Law Parliament also created procedures of its own volition which had nothing to do with the President’s concerns. The President is delighted to see that nothing in the decision of the Tribunal has questioned the correctness of his views regarding this.
“The Tribunal’s decision has affected some of the procedures established by Parliament. Whilst there exists serious doubts about the legal reasoning of the Tribunal – doubts that raise concerns about the legitimacy of the decision and the administration of justice – it is now up to Parliament to remedy the Law as it sees fit. It is also always open to Parliament to decide to return the procedures back to the pre-2016 position,” siad in a statement.
It is important to highlight that the Tribunal’s decision only affects a small part of the procedure created by Parliament and that the President’s constitutional power to grant pardons has not been brought into question at all. Furthermore, other than the 3 articles considered by the Tribunal the remainder of the Law remains valid and operable. The Tribunal did not make any decision that affects the validity of any pardon granted to date by the President pursuant to his Constitutional powers.
The President trusts that any discussion of the Tribunal’s decision may now take place within the context of the objective circumstances surrounding the case and without further misinformed speculation.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Filomeno Martins
