THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE AFFAIRS OF NATIONAL LIBERATION COMBATANTS IN THE VII

THE AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE AFFAIRS OF NATIONAL LIBERATION COMBATANTS IN THE VIII CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

Silverio Pinto Baptista, Leonito Ribeiro, Lourenço de Deus Mau Lulo University of Peace, Dili, Timor-Leste. Email : baptistasilveriopinto@gmail.com, leonito.ribeiro@gmail.com lourencodedeusmaululo@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

Since the Establishment of the I to VII Constitutional Government of Timor-Leste, in its organic law it has always distributed authority to the Secretary of State for Combatant and Veterans to administer the rights and interests of combatants and veterans of war, although hierarchically its existence is under the Ministry of Social Solidarity. Why is that? Because it is stated in Article 104 paragraph 1 of the Republic Democratic Timor-Leste (RDTL) Constitution that the composition of the Government comprises the Prime Minister, Ministers and State Secretaries. Then in the third paragraph it is also states that the number, titles and competencies of the ministries and state secretariats will be determined by government law. However, in the VIII Constitutional Government it was the opposite, because the authority of the Secretary of State for the Affairs of National Liberations Combatants (SEALN Portuguese Abbreviation) was not clearly and firmly regulated. Therefore, the VIII Constitutional Government Establishment Law and the Law on the Establishment of the Ministry of the Affairs of National Liberation Combatants (MACLN Portuguese Abbreviation) are considered vague. To overcome this ambiguity of norms and ensure legal certainty, the Minister of MACLN issued a Decree No. 01/VIII-GC/MACLN/2020, 8th June to delegate several mandates to the Secretary of State for the Affairs of National Liberation Combatants. Based on this, the substance of the problem is 2, namely: What is the Authority of SEACLN in the VIII Constitutional Government Establishment Law? What are the Administrative Responsibilities of the Authority? This research was carried out using research normative law, through an analysis of the norms in the legislation. Based on the results of the study, it is shown that the VIII Constitutional Governance Policies are actually with a good purpose, because the Government wants to improve services to Combatants and Veterans who are still alive and living throughout Timor-Leste. It's just that the placement of the Secretary of State for the Affairs of National Liberation Combatants is contrary to Article 104 of the Constitution. It should not be the Secretary of State but as vice minister as the Assistant to the Minister. Regarding the authority of the Secretary of State in the VIII Constitutional Government Establishment Law, it is unclear and blurry. According to the theory of delegation of authority, it says that the authority delegated by the official who received the authority through attribution to the mandatory recipient, the administrative responsibility remains with the Minister as the Mandate Holder.

                Keywords: Authority of the Secretary of State, VIII Constitutional Government

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