Justice-Sector Textbooks, Legal Manuals Reach New Audiences

USAID’s long-running Access to Justice and Legislative Development Program closed at the end of September, and since then, USAID's partner, The Asia Foundation, has been distributing extra copies of the information materials it created to academic, justice and government institutions, legal aid organizations, the lawyers association, political parties, the election bodies, donors, and international and local NGOs. Among the documents are more than 5,000 copies of the country's first law textbooks in Tetun, the most widely spoken language.

The textbooks, developed with Stanford Law School and the National University of Timor Lorosa’e, cover Professional Responsibility, Contract Law, and Constitutional Law textbooks.  ATJ is also distributing more than 4,000 copies of its domestic violence magazine, legal aid and paralegal manuals, and suco council manuals. The printed materials (and electronic copies) will serve as references and training materials for the broader stakeholder community working in the justice sector in Timor-Leste.