“Promote good governance through popular participation; a responsible and responsive government including a lean, efficient, effective, accountable and transparent civil service and effective, professional, non-political defence and police forces; a decentralized administration with simple and transparent norms, so that governance and public administration is closer to the people; a socially responsible private sector, transparent and accountable civil society organizations; and a responsible, independent and effective media.” – National Development Plan of Timor-Leste Timor-Leste’s National Development Plan or NDP lays out a vision of a democratic country where state resources are managed efficiently, transparently, and free from corruption, and where the rule of law is respected and office holders are accountable to those by whom they are elected or appointed. Timor-Leste's achievements are remarkable. The executive branch of the state, the Government, has been successful in establishing core planning and resource management functions that are effective, transparent, and anchored in the NDP, and compare very favorably with those of other low income countries. These results have been achieved against considerable odds, including a pervasive lack of technical and management skills and lack of familiarity with the institutions needed to run the state. Four years into the country’s existence, the institutions of the state outside the executive are beginning to play a role, although the executive remains stronger than the parliament, the judiciary, the oversight institutions, and the Presidency. Media and civil society organizations also remain comparatively weak. Despite some progress, much remains to be done to translate the governance architecture set out in the Constitution into well-functioning and fully autonomous institutions. Given the relative strength of the executive, and in order to achieve the checks and balances envisioned in both the Constitution and the National Development Plan, the Government may wish to consider what measures it may take to strengthen other institutions. Such measures may include ensuring that independent institutions have statutory budgets approved by Parliament; maintaining proper channels of communication; respecting the separation of powers; and creating an enabling environment for media, civil society and business. This would build trust and give people confidence that the Government is conducting its business in a fair and honest way. In strengthening governance, the Government may wish to consider using and demonstrating four guiding principles: sending the right signals through leadership and integrity at high levels; relaxing control in order to consolidate it – reassuring citizens by allowing the institutions of scrutiny and accountability to operate independently; strengthening the rule of law and due process, including restrained and appropriate use of the state’s monopoly on coercive power; and reaching out and listening to the population in order to be more responsive to priorities at local level.
This paper was prepared by the World Bank at the request of the Government of Timor-Leste and the development partners supporting the Transition Support Program/Consolidation Support Program. The Government, actors in the justice system and a host of civil society organizations provided comments on an earlier draft of the paper.  Download the Full Report: English (405kb pdf) | Portuguese (435kb pdf)
For your convenience, we also provide the report by sections:
Cover and Abbreviations (195kb pdf)
Introduction and Executive Summary (38kb pdf)
Framework of Governance (41kb pdf)
Enhancing the Decision Making Process (45kb pdf)
Building Responsiveness and Accountability in Public Service (33kb pdf)
Strengthening Internal Control (28kb pdf)
Putting in Place Independent Oversight and Audit (30kb pdf)
Improving Access to Justice (52kb pdf)
Ensuring Public Access to Information and Strengthening the Role of Civil Society (44kb pdf)
Reducing the Risk of Corruption (47kb pdf)
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