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- 12 03 2003 - 11:50 - katatonik

News From the Import-Export-Trade

” It is no surprise that East Timorese believe in human rights and justice, but they apply these principles in their own way.

When United Nations experts came to help found a court system in the newborn nation three years ago, they brought with them an adversarial model in which a verdict emerges from opposing arguments.

It was a strange process, said an American lawyer who took part in the training. Culturally, she said, East Timorese tend to admit the crimes they have committed. To create a Western-style court system, she said, it was necessary to teach defendants to lie.”

New York Times,
In a Contest of Cultures, East Embraces West
.

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