CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE IN AZERBAIJAN

This article will provide guidance on the Code of Civil Procedure in Azerbaijan. If a court proceeding is initiated in Azerbaijan to defend the rights, freedoms, and legally protected interests of another person, the court must inform the affected party of the fact of the proceeding and allow them to participate in it as a claimant if they so want. Both parties should be afforded and required to comply with the same level of procedural protections and duties.

BACKGROUND

All parties to a dispute must act in good faith while exercising their procedural rights.  Every party to a case has the right to review all relevant documents, take notes and copies, object to the case, present evidence, be heard on that evidence, question other parties, witnesses, experts, and specialists, file petitions (including petitions for requests of supplementary evidence), present oral and written explanations to the court, and request sanctions against the other side.

Upon the consent of the original claimant and without dismissing the case, the court may allow the proper claimant or respondent to replace the original claimant or respondent in cases where the original claimant or respondent does not have the right of claim or is not liable under the claim.

If the claimant does not consent to a replacement, the replacement may file a separate lawsuit as a ‘third party’ and assert claims related to the disagreement as if they were the claimant.

If the claimant does not agree with the proposed replacement of the respondent, then the court may, with the claimant's permission, ask the proposed replacement to appear in court as a second respondent.

The official state language of the Republic of Azerbaijan, or the language of the majority population in a given area, must be the language of the court process regarding civil cases and economic disputes. Individuals who do not speak the language of the proceeding must be informed of and given the opportunity to use free interpreter services to become familiar with all case materials, provide explanations, testimony, and opinions, appear before the court, file petitions, submit complaints, and more in their native language.

HOW ARE COURT PROCEEDINGS CONDUCTED IN AZERBAIJAN

To get to the bottom of things, the court has to ensure that everyone involved in the case has a fair chance to present their side of the story. To that end, the court must inform all parties involved in the case of their procedural rights and responsibilities, caution them against any potential negative outcomes of their conduct, and help them use those rights if necessary.

The court can only consider and act on the parties' evidence. Except in the instance of mandatory representation, each party to a lawsuit has the right to advocate on their behalf. All parties involved in the action have the right to be represented by and helped in the exercise of their procedural rights by counsel of their choosing.

The resolutions, writs, decisions, and decrees of the court are the forms in which its actions are manifested.  Disregarding the court's authority in the form of non-execution of court act or any other form is punishable by law. 

AZERBAIJAN AND FOREIGN SERVICE OF PROCESS

International agreements to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party and this Code will determine the binding force of judgments rendered by foreign courts, international courts, and economic courts sitting on territory inside the Republic of Azerbaijan.

After exhausting domestic remedies, a party or other person involved in a case may seek redress from an international court to ensure their human rights and freedoms are protected, per international treaties to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party.

Judges duly elected in accordance with the legal system should administer justice in matters of commerce and civil law. The court may delegate its authority to a single judge or a panel of student judges to hear a case or decide any other procedural issue. A case will be presided over by the judge, who hears it alone. Each judge has the same power throughout a trial.

All civil case proceedings, including the filing and service of applications, complaints, and other documents, and the distribution of court documents to the court and the parties involved, may be conducted electronically in courts where the Electronic Court Information System is in use. 

OUT-OF-STATE DOCUMENT SERVICE IN AZERBAIJAN

The Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, laws, decrees of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan, normative legal acts of central executive bodies, and international treaties of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall serve as the basis for the court's dispute resolution decisions.

The terms of international treaties of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall prevail in a disagreement with normative legal acts constituting the legislative system of the Republic of Azerbaijan (other than the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan and acts enacted by referendum).

In matters involving the application of human rights and freedoms, the Court may appeal for clarification of the Constitution and regulations of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan. When the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan indicates an interpretation of the Constitution or a statute, such interpretation becomes binding on lower courts.

The court has to ensure that everyone involved in the case has a fair chance to present their side of the story. To that end, the court must inform all parties involved in the case of their procedural rights and responsibilities, caution them against any potential negative outcomes of their conduct, and help them use those rights if necessary. The court can only consider and act on the parties' evidence.

Except in the instance of mandatory representation, each party to a lawsuit has the right to advocate on their behalf. All parties involved in the action have the right to be represented by and helped in the exercise of their procedural rights by counsel of their choosing.

COURT JURISDICTION IN AZERBAIJAN

All state authorities, local self-regulating bodies, their officials, political parties, trade unions, their officials, and all other physical persons and legal entities within the Republic of Azerbaijan are required to comply with and execute every resolution, writ, decision, and order of any court that has attained legal force in the country.

Disregarding the court's authority in the form of non-execution of court act or any other form is punishable by law. The mandatory character of judicial actions should not deprive interested people not participating in the case of the right to appeal to the court for protection of their rights and interests protected by law when such acts impact the interests of interested persons.

International agreements to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party and this Code will determine the binding force of judgments rendered by foreign courts, international courts, and economic courts sitting on territory inside the Republic of Azerbaijan.

After exhausting domestic remedies, including those provided for in this Code, a party or other person involved in a case may seek redress from an international court to ensure their human rights and freedoms are protected, per international treaties to which the Republic of Azerbaijan is a party.

Judges duly elected in accordance with the legal system should administer justice in matters of commerce and civil law. A case will be presided over by the judge, who hears it alone. Each judge has the same power throughout a trial.

THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF JUDGES IN AZERBAIJAN

The judges will decide on all issues during the hearing and resolution of the case by majority vote. The power to recuse oneself from a vote does not belong to any judges. The judge who is presiding over the case must cast the final vote.  The judge who dissented from the majority must nonetheless sign the ruling. The judge can provide a written opinion on the matter, which will be included in the court's records but will not be spoken aloud during oral arguments.

During deliberations and votes, as well as until the end of their terms of office, judges must maintain the confidentiality of judicial deliberations and votes. Any objection or self-disqualification must be submitted in writing before considering the matter; only in cases where the court and the individual submitting the complaint learned of the grounds for the objection after the case hearing had already begun would a late objection or self-disqualification be allowed.

The burden of proof rests with the complaining party. If the court hearing the case does not receive evidence supporting the objection, it will keep it open. The opposing party may be fined up to 110 Manats if the objection is filed with the sole intent of prolonging the court action or if the reasons for the objection are fraudulent and do not correspond to the real condition of the circumstances.

A person, his representative, or his attorney may not file the same or similar objection twice with the court about the same judge, expert, specialist, translator, or court secretary.

FILING OBJECTIONS IN AZERBAIJAN

If an objection is submitted, the court must listen to the opinions of those involved in the case and, if the objected-to party is willing, consider any reasons the objector may provide. If an objection is raised about a judge considering a case alone, the court's chairman will decide whether or not to hear the matter.

If the case is being heard using a collegiate process, the other judges will discuss the topic of the objection with the judge in question, even if that judge is not present. In the event of a tie vote over the objection, the judge being objected to would be assumed to have been removed from office. Objection regarding numerous judges or full court board hearing cases under appeal or cassation must be decided by chairmen of courts of appellate or cassation instance.

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Sources

1. Civil procedural legal capability ensures that every individual and organization is afforded the same protections and duties under the law with respect to all aspects of the procedure at hand. All natural persons who have reached the age of majority and all legal entities that have been duly registered in accordance with statutory requirements shall be deemed to have the capacity to acquire rights and carry out obligations in court, to assign conduct of the case to a representative through personal actions (civil procedural action capacity).

2. All state authorities, local self-regulating bodies, their officials, political parties, trade unions, their officials, and all other physical persons and legal entities within the Republic of Azerbaijan are required to comply with and execute every resolution, writ, decision, and order of any court that has attained legal force in the country.

3. The mandatory character of judicial actions should not deprive interested people not participating in the case of the right to appeal to the court for protection of their rights and interests protected by law when such acts impact the interests of interested persons.

4. When this Code mandates the involvement of an attorney, the parties to the case have the right to obtain free (at the cost of the state) professional legal help to advocate their interests and exercise their procedural rights, even if they lack the financial means to do so.

5. Judges, experts, specialists, interpreters, and court secretaries must report their disqualification under Articles 19 and 20 of this Code. All parties involved in the case have the opportunity to file similar objections.

6. The judge and court hearing the case should determine matters of objection regarding expert, specialist, interpreter, and court secretary. Suppose an appeal is made against either the chairman who presided over the first instance court or the judge who presided over the unilateral court. In that case, the court of the appellate instance must hear the matter. Regarding self-disqualification or an objection, the court must issue a writ that cannot be appealed.