NGOs can also be treated as legal entities and be subjected to sanctions

New fines are being introduced for violation of the legislation on the procedure for the use by citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the right of legislative initiative. This is reflected in the new Article 179-1 proposed for inclusion in the Code of Administrative Offenses.

According to the draft law, for participation in the collection of signatures of state bodies, municipal institutions and legal entities, regardless of the form of ownership in support of the draft law (decree), prepared in order to use the right of legislative initiative by citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and proposed for discussion by the Milli Majlis, officials will be fined in the amount of 500 to 800 manats, legal entities - from 1500 to 2000 manats.

The process of collecting signatures in connection with the use of the right of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan to legislative initiative and to finance other measures provided for by the law "On the procedure for exercising the right of citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan to legislative initiative" for the use of funds from foreign states, international organizations, foreign legal entities or stateless persons , as well as legal entities whose founders are foreign states, organizations, foreign legal entities, foreigners or stateless persons, individuals will be fined in the amount of 200 to 400 manats, officials - in the amount of 1000 to 1500 manats, legal entities - in the amount of 4,000 to 6,000 manats.

What is the essence and what is the purpose of this decision?

Bashir Suleymanli, head of the Civil Rights Institute, spoke about this in an interview with ASTNA.

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Question: According to the new Article 179-1 proposed for inclusion in the Code of Administrative Offenses, new fines are established for violation of the law on the procedure for using the right of legislative initiative by citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. What does this mean?

Answer: According to the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the right of legislative initiative in the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan (the right to submit draft laws and other issues for consideration by the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan) belongs to the deputies of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 40 thousand citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan having the right to vote, the Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ali Majlis of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In 2019, the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On the procedure for the use by citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the right to legislative initiative” came into force.

The Article 6.8 of this law states that the participation of state bodies, municipal institutions and legal entities, regardless of their form of ownership, in the collection of signatures is not allowed. In the process of collecting signatures, it is prohibited to force or prevent citizens from signing, or to encourage them for doing so in any form.

The Article 6.9 of this law states that in connection with the process of collecting signatures and exercising the right of citizens to legislative initiative to finance other activities provided for by this Law, funds of foreign states, international organizations, foreign legal entities, foreigners and persons without citizenship, as well as legal entities whose founder is a foreign state, an international organization, a foreign legal entity, a foreigner or a stateless person. If the violation of this prohibition is confirmed by the relevant court, then this is considered the basis for the cancellation by the Central Election Commission of the decision to register the initiative group and the proposed project.

That is, this issue was reflected in the adoption of the law. Now it is proposed to introduce liability for violation of these prohibitions into the Code of Administrative Offenses.

Question: What is the main purpose of these changes?

Answer: I must say that these prohibitions existed in the law from the very beginning. Now they just sanction bans with fines. Was there any reason for this? As far as I know, no one in Azerbaijan has used this right so far. Because the procedure associated with the speech of citizens with legislative initiatives is already very complicated and difficult. Imagine, first, in order to submit a bill for discussion in the Milli Majlis, it is necessary that, in connection with the realization of the right of citizens to legislative initiative, an initiative group should be created in which at least 300 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan who have the right to vote and they can be represented only one project.

Some relevant documents - expert opinions, project need, list, etc. Within two months from the date of receipt proposed by the initiative group of the project, the CEC, in accordance with the Law, decides on its registration or refusal.

After that, the submission of the proposed draft for discussion in the Milli Majlis is carried out by the initiative group for the collection of signatures of citizens and is carried out exclusively by its members within two months from the date of registration of the proposed draft.

Members of the initiative group must collect signatures of at least 40,000 citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan who have the right to vote. The collection of signatures must cover the territory of at least 60 electoral districts, and at least 500 signatures must be collected from the territory of each electoral district.

The signature sheet for collecting signatures shall contain the name of the project, the last name, first name, patronymic of the member of the initiative group who collected signatures, the number and validity period of the identity card, the date and number of the decision to register the initiative group and the proposed project, the last name, first name, patronymic of the citizen who supported the proposed project, address of residence, number and validity of the identity card. Also, the citizen must provide the full text of the proposed draft, explain the content of the draft and give time to read it.

After that, the sheets are submitted to the CEC for certification of signatures. The CEC checks compliance with the procedure and the authenticity of signatures within two months. Imagine, if only one signature on a signature sheet turns out to be illegal, then all signatures on this sheet will be cancelled. On the other hand, if signs of an offense that may lead to criminal liability are found, the CEC sends relevant documents and materials to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan to consider the issue of bringing the perpetrators to justice.

That is, in the presence of all these prohibitions and levers, their repeated application as fines in the Code of Administrative Offenses is incomprehensible to the mind.

Question: Sometimes NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) come up with a legislative initiative. Now, in this case, they can be told - do you receive foreign grants or are financed from abroad, and we will not accept the draft law initiated by you and, in addition, we will fine you?

Answer: An NGO's coming up with a legislative initiative is just lobbying and public protection. In any case, an NGO has no right to come up with a legislative initiative. NGOs can prepare proposals for laws, send them to deputies, to the Milli Majlis, conduct public campaigns so that deputies can submit them for discussion by the Milli Majlis. Penalties here refer to procedures in the exercise by citizens of the right to legislative initiative.

As far as misapplying the law, they can do it. For example, it notes that regardless of the form of ownership for the participation of legal entities in the collection of signatures, officials will be fined in the amount of 500 to 800 manats, legal entities - from 1,500 to 2,000 manats. NGOs can also be considered as structures with the status of a legal entity and subject to further fines.

Question: Was there a case in Azerbaijan when the initiative of any bill came from citizens or international organizations? Has any international organization funded the drafting of the bill?

Answer: I do not recall the fact that citizens came up with legislative initiatives in accordance with the procedures of the law on the right to legislative initiative. But there were many cases of lobbying, public campaigns. At one time, such proposals were made by political parties, NGOs, and communities. Recently, the REAL party, some NGOs, including the Institute of Civil Rights, prepared and sent to the Milli Majlis bills related to NGOs. As I said, it was just an initiative and lobbying. There is no prohibition on this in the law. Perhaps this may be banned in the future. In the future, they may pass a law that establishes responsibility for financing from abroad. For many years we have been witnessing not mitigation, but, on the contrary, even greater tightening, the creation of criminal liability and fines.

Question: Could this also prevent the adoption of laws that must be decided by the Venice Commission and other international organizations so that they can formulate these laws as they see fit?

Answer: The procedure for obtaining the opinion of the Venice Commission arose after Azerbaijan was accepted as a member of the Council of Europe. Here, the commission does not prepare the law, but provides recommendations, checks the compliance of the laws being developed with international standards and gives an opinion. But this is not an imperative.

Question: What steps can be taken to ensure that such proposals do not lead to negative consequences?

Answer: There are such deep problems in the country that I don't think it can make anything worse. In conditions when civil society is paralyzed, the activities of political parties are limited, elections are accompanied by serious violations, and “immunity” has already been developed to such relatively minor restrictions. If pluralism is not protected in parliament, fundamental freedoms are suppressed, there is no fair and independent judiciary, then citizens will not be motivated to use the right of legislative initiative.