by Kamran Balayev

Since the breakdown of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has been given recognition and has been accepted by the international community. In 1991 it became a member of the UN and joined the Council of Europe in 2001. In order to come into line with EU regulations Azerbaijan ratified the European Convention on Human Rights in 2002 and therefore accepted certain obligations and rules relevant to international human rights law.

Now every citizen in Azerbaijan can rely on human rights laws and is protection in Europe, they can now submit a complaint about a violation of their human rights to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Today, most of the decisions made in the domestic Azerbaijani courts are made after taking into consideration the common law of the European Court of Human Rights and in obedience with the requirements of the European Convention.

The President of the European Court of Human Rights, Dean Spielmann emphasised how important it was for Azerbaijan’s national courts and judges to apply the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on national level. He urged for dialogue between judges in European countries through international conferences in order to improve the justice system in Azerbaijan. Mr. Spielmann was reassured by the government that Azerbaijan is actively cooperating and following several European agencies and it was emphasised that high-profile international events held in Azerbaijan. It was also mentioned that the events such as “European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms on a national level and the role of national judges” would help to strengthen and expand relations with the EU.

The priorities of the country include strengthening the rule of law through cooperation in battling corruption, bringing together different cultures and sections of society to a point where they can share mutual respect and understanding, and making the young people of Azerbaijan aware of democracy and human rights. Azerbaijan is constantly trying to improve its law to correspond with international law and the measures they have taken include: improving legislation, training judges and civil servants about European law, making the judicial system more modern and teaching the population about human rights.

Cooperation with the European Court of Human rights will surely bring great improvement to national courts implementing European law. In any case, it the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan already understands the need to protect fundamental freedoms and human rights and makes decisions in accordance with the European Convention. The country is establishing a new legal system in order to review national court decisions.

One third of the provisions of the first democratic Constitution of Azerbaijan was adopted in 1995, and was prepared in accordance with democratic values and principles dedicated to fundamental human rights and freedom and the principle of separation of powers. In addition to that, new mechanisms are in place for citizens applying to the court to complain about human rights violations. These new mechanisms ensure the effectiveness of justice and the Judicial-Legal Council is in place to self-govern judicial power in correspondence to international principles. This means that judges will not be given immunity and will be reviewed and a right of disciplinary proceedings will be given to the Council. Special international support was given to these judicial reforms and the World Bank has appreciated this achievement. As a result, several modern court buildings were built, moreover the general infrastructure of the courts will be renewed and up-to-date technology will be introduced.

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