Postcolonial Legal Pluralism in Practice: How Timor-Leste’s Hybrid System Negotiates State Law and Customary Lisan
Abstract
This paper examines the postcolonial legal pluralism in Timor-Leste, where state law and customary lisan norms interact within a hybrid justice system. Since independence in 2002, Timor-Leste has faced the challenge of reconciling formal legal institutions with deeply rooted customary practices, reflecting broader tensions between colonial legacies, modern state-building, and local autonomy. Drawing on empirical fieldwork and legal analysis, the study explores how Timor-Leste’s legal framework negotiates pluralism in practice, particularly in rural dispute resolution, land tenure, and family law.
The paper argues that Timor-Leste’s hybrid system operates as a contested yet pragmatic space where state and non-state legal orders coexist, compete, and occasionally converge. While formal courts recognize customary law under the Constitution, local communities often prioritize lisan mechanisms, leading to jurisdictional ambiguities and power asymmetries. The analysis highlights two key dynamics: (1) the state’s selective incorporation of lisan to extend legitimacy, and (2) grassroots resistance to top-down legal harmonization, which risks marginalizing customary authorities. Case studies illustrate how actors navigate pluralism—from village-level mediation to constitutional court rulings on customary rights.
The findings contribute to debates on postcolonial legal pluralism by demonstrating how Timor-Leste’s experience diverges from liberal legal universalism while confronting challenges of fragmentation and inequality. By centering local agency, the paper critiques assumptions about the state’s monopoly over legality and offers insights for hybrid governance models in post-conflict societies. Ultimately, Timor-Leste’s system reveals both the potential and limits of pluralism as a decolonial project, urging cautious engagement with customary law in plural legal orders.
Keywords: legal pluralism, customary law, postcolonialism, hybrid governance, Timor-Leste