Venidora Oliveira – Member of the National Parliament MP Arao Noe urges the Ministry of Justice to work towards translating the Timorese Civil Code Law to Tetun because it was difficult for Timorese to understand its current Portuguese version.MP Noe said it requires very high Portuguese language ability to understand juditial terms and if someone only speaks basic Portuguese he of she will not understand the content of the civil code.
"It should be translated to Tetun," said MP Noe at the National Parliament, Dili. He added that when the code was passed the Ministry of Justice was left in charge of its translation to Tetun before distributing it.
In response to the concerns raised Vice Minister of Justice Ivo Valente said the Civil Code Law will finish being translated to Tetun in 2015. "The Civil Code Law is being translated," said Deputy Minister Valente.
The Vice Minister added the code has 2195 articles and that it takes time to adequately translated the law. "We need to ensure the translation is done well."