Dili demands return of documents taken from lawyer Bernard Collaery relating to a dispute over $40bn oil and gas treaty

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Timor-Leste wants the international court of justice to order Australia to hand over all the documents it seized during a raid on the office of one of its lawyers.

Domestic spy organisation Asio raided lawyer Bernard Collaery's office in Canberra in early December and seized documents relating to a dispute between Australia and a Timor-Leste over a $40bn oil and gas treaty.

Dili argues the documents belong to a Timor-Leste and it has the right to protect them under international law.

Timor-Leste wants the court to provisionally rule that all of the documents seized be immediately handed over to the international court.

It also wants all copies to be destroyed and a list of which documents were passed to which people, along with their job description.

"In addition to the return of our property, Timor-Leste is seeking the protection of all its communications that attract legal privilege," the country’s minister of state, Agio Pereira, said in a statement.

The documents relate to Timor-Leste’s challenge to the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea.

Dili has accused Australia of bugging its cabinet office during the 2004 treaty negotiations.

Attorney general George Brandis approved warrants for the 3 December raid on Collaery's office and another raid on the home of a former spy who is a key witness in a Timor-Leste's pre-existing case at the permanent court of arbitration.

The international court of justice is the principal judicial body of the United Nations, established to adjudicate on disputes between member states. A final decision on the case could take a year or more.