A/HRC/42/37/Add.2 by addressing underlying potential causes of conflict at an early stage, customary justice contributes to conflict prevention, unlike the reactive and perpetrator-focused approach of formal justice systems. Local regulations and moral codes of conduct are in many communities referred to as tara bandu (“hanging prohibitions”) as some of these rules were traditionally signalled by placing items in trees. 29. For the majority of the population, resorting to customary justice is preferred over the formal justice system. It is inaccurate to understand customary justice merely as a form of “alternative dispute resolution”. Customary measures are integrated into the indigenous worldview and social structure; they are understood and accepted by the community and provide swift and accessible redress, and also provide an opportunity to transmit cultural and traditional knowledge to the next generation. Strong compliance is ensured by the sense of community belonging and spiritual duty; sanctions may, for example, entail community work, the loss of social status or being denied marriage. 30. The Special Rapporteur was told by traditional Elders that they consider the customary and formal justice systems as complementary. This perspective was also echoed by several authorities, judges and other judicial actors in the formal justice system, who underlined that they do not see a contradiction between the two justice systems. 31. The Special Rapporteur notes that, in terms of access to justice and compliance with human rights standards, there are shortcomings in both the formal justice system and the customary justice system. In the customary justice system, hearings are commonly conducted in public, which is clearly unsuitable for crimes relating to emotionally vulnerable victims of domestic violence and child abuse. Some customary justice practices may entail physical punishments, in contravention of international human rights law. 32. While there are practices in the customary justice system in Timor-Leste that need to be amended to comply with human rights standards, many aspects of the customary justice system have an undeniable complementary added value to the formal system that must be acknowledged, such as accessibility, awareness of community cultural specificities and languages, low cost and trust; also, it is understood by everyone in the community. The Special Rapporteur has, however, observed in many countries that there are often unfounded prejudices and a lack of understanding of customary justice systems. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur would like to recall that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in articles 5 and 34, affirms the right to maintain and strengthen indigenous legal institutions and juridical systems or customs, with the caveat that these should be in accordance with international human rights standards. 33. Domestic violence has been defined as a public crime since 2010, requiring investigation in the formal justice system. While an increasing number of such cases are being brought before the formal justice system, in practice many of these crimes continue to be addressed through customary justice. The ordinary justice system has not proven to be sufficiently accessible nor able to effectively address such violations, and the criticism has been raised that the focus on punishing the perpetrator has been insufficient to date to guarantee justice for victims of domestic violence. At the same time, overall public awareness that domestic violence is a crime requiring prosecution in the formal justice system has increased.8 Research has shown that many tara bandu regulations adopted since 2010 replaced mention of domestic violence with reference to the formal justice system, stating that it is a crime requiring investigation in the formal justice system. 9 This points to the role that customary justice systems can play in socializing formal law and acting in favour of condemnation and prevention of such acts at the local level. 34. Collaboration and coordination with the existing customary justice system is likely to be more constructive than promotion of the formal justice system in disregard of 8 9 6 Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra and Comissão para a Reforma Legislativa e do Sector da Justiça, Para Uma Justiçia De Matriz Timorense: o contributo das justiças comunitárias (2017), p. 151. Belun and The Asia Foundation, Tara Bandu: Its Role and Use in Community Conflict Prevention in Timor-Leste (2013), p. 29.