No Advocacy in Azerbaijan - Intigam Aliyev

Baku / 06.02.18 / Turan: The known Azerbaijani lawyer, the head of Legal Education Society Intigam Aliyev in an interview with the Voice of America ​​spoke about the advocacy issues in Azerbaijan.

The very process of joining the Bar causes questions. The system of entrance examinations is really mainly for authoritarian countries. In democratic countries, everything is regulated by market mechanisms. Lawyers go to civil and criminal trials and if they provide high-quality services, they are in demand. As for exams, they are held in separate countries, such as Russia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan.

On January 28, Azerbaijan arranged a test exam for another set of lawyers. Of more than 1,800 candidates at the second stage, an oral interview, only a third passed. Commenting on this, Intigam Aliyev pointed out the depressing state of legal education in Azerbaijan.

"The state is to blame for this. If in universities students receive marks for bribes, then the level of legal staff cannot be high. These graduates then become judges, prosecutors, and lawyers.

In addition, questions are raised by the establishment of a passing score of 60 out of 100. In the legal community, some suggest reducing it even to 30."

According to Intigam Aliyev, test questions are so complex that even he, having a great legal experience and having won more than 100 cases in the European Court of Human Rights, cannot score a passing grade. There are tens of thousands of legal acts, and it is impossible to study everything for the exam.

In Aliyev's opinion, the state is not interested in a large number of lawyers, which means strengthening the rights of citizens.

Test examinations can be completed by 5,000 lawyers, but in the end they have to pass an oral interview. And there the chances of principled and conscientious lawyers are close to zero.

In regions, the situation is generally catastrophic and pressure on lawyers is even stronger there.

Aliyev does not agree with the opinion on reforming the system of advocacy. "Changing the leadership of the Bar is not a reform. Real reform means countering judicial arbitrariness and solving the problem of political prisoners. But the authorities do not want this and therefore they remove independent people from the Bar Association and the situation will only worsen.

To bring the Bar to European standards, it is necessary to strengthen the guarantees of their independence, as without this the Bar cannot be strong. -06B-