ADB Strengthens Capacity of Timorese Public Defenders to Handle Gender-Based Violence Cases

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Office of the Public Defender of Timor-Leste (ODP) recently concluded specialized workshops in Bali, Indonesia, to strengthen the capacity of Timorese public defenders in handling gender-based violence (GBV) cases. Held in August 2025, the training equipped defenders with practical skills to balance the rights of survivors and the accused in sensitive and complex cases.

Opening the first workshop, Acting Public Defender General Marcia Maria Filipe Sarmento stressed the unique dual mandate of Timor-Leste’s public defenders, who may represent either survivors or defendants. “Public defenders are indispensable in promoting access to justice,” she said, “and fulfilling this role requires continued capacity building to safeguard rights and ensure fair and proper legal outcomes.” ADB Counsel Maria Cecilia T. Sicangco echoed this message, noting that defenders must “balance empathy with impartiality, safeguard the rights of survivors while ensuring fair trial guarantees for the accused, and apply the law with both rigor and humanity.”

The workshops were developed collaboratively by ADB and ODP during preparatory meetings in Dili in June 2025. Drawing on real-world challenges faced by public defenders, the teams designed a nine-module curriculum informed by the Handbook on Investigation of Gender-Based Violence Cases (English / Tetum). Facilitated by international experts—former Supreme Court Justice Robyn Layton, communications specialist Samar Minallah Khan, and barrister Julia Davey—the training covered legal, procedural, and practical dimensions of GBV cases. 

Thirty public defenders participated across two sessions, held on 11–13 and 16–18 August 2025, exploring cultural taboos and pressures that discourage survivors from testifying, techniques for interviewing women, children, and persons with disabilities, and strategies for conducting sensitive yet effective questioning. The workshops culminated in courtroom role-play exercises, where defenders applied lessons learned in simulated trial settings.

In his opening remarks at the second session, ODP Chief Inspector Sebastião Amado NheuRibeiro de Almeida encouraged defenders to put these lessons into practice, saying: “When we return to Timor-Leste, we can apply the materials provided to deliver high-quality legal assistance—free of charge—to citizens who are poor and vulnerable.”

These workshops marked the final phase of ADB’s program to strengthen the Timorese justice system, under the Promotion of Gender–Responsive Judicial Systems Technical Assistance, implemented by the Office of the General Counsel’s Law and Policy Reform Program. Since its launch in 2021, the technical assistance has delivered targeted training for judges in 2022, prosecutors in 2023, justice officers in 2024, police officers in April–May 2025, and now public defenders, ensuring a comprehensive, system-wide approach.

These initiatives are already showing results: participants reported that judges in Suai City have established a child-friendly room for young GBV survivors to provide testimony in a safe, less stressful environment, while judges, prosecutors, and defenders have begun adopting less intimidating approaches, such as interviewing children without formal court attire.

As the technical assistance draws to a close, ADB reaffirmed its commitment to advancing gender equality and strengthening access to justice in Timor-Leste. As Ms. Sicangco noted, “Supporting gender equality is a top commitment of ADB. This training is more than an event; it is part of a shared effort to build a justice system that is fair, balanced, and responsive to the complex realities of gender-based violence.”