Citizens’ participation in public decision-making, including the legislative process, is one of the important principles of democracy. However, in Azerbaijan there is virtually no public participation, and even the existing law in this area does not have arrangements for the practical application.
This was the keynote of the conference on "Public participation in the legislative process: Practice and Prospects" organized by the NGO "Law and Development" as part of a project funded by the Black Sea regional structure of the German Marshall Fund of the U.S.
The head of the NGO Law and Development Hafiz Hasanov said that, despite the right of citizens to initiate legislation, which was included in the Constitution in a referendum in March 2009, a specific mechanism for the implementation of this law has not been developed.
Thus, according to the Constitution, any bill supported by not less than 40 thousand citizens should be considered by Parliament. NGO "Law and Development" draft law "On the legislative initiative of the citizens", which was presented to the participants. "It is not necessary that the bill should be taken. We have developed it to draw attention to the provisions of the Constitution of the need for such a law and to get things off the ground," said Hasanov.
He noted the omission of other legal mechanisms of citizen participation in the legislative process through public discussions of draft laws submitted by their NGO, NGO participation in the deliberations of the parliamentary committees.
The representative of the Black Sea Initiative of the Marshall Fund for Azerbaijan Mehriban Rahimli noted that the international donor organizations to pay attention to public participation in government decision-making as an essential institution of democracy.
An expert from Georgia Nikoloz Legashvili shared experience of his country and said that the general administrative code citizens can appeal regulations.
In addition, citizens can use their rights in the field of public participation precedents in the European Court of Human Rights.
As an important achievement, Legashvili named the new Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and his cabinet members’ report to a number of NGOs for 100 days of their administration.
The lawyer of the NGO Law and Development Azer Gasimov presented the bill "On the legislative initiative of the citizens" to depict the implementation procedures of the rights of citizens. According to the document, for a bill to be submitted an initiative group numbering 40 people should be set up to collect 40,000 signatures. After that, the Parliament will be obliged to consider the bill.
In case of refusal to review the bill, they may appeal to the court.
The expert in law of the American organization IREX Alasgar Mammadli expressed the view that the bill should provide an electronic form of signature collection, which will greatly simplify the work.
The Director of the Institute of Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) Emin Huseynov questioned that the authorities will take this bill. "The authorities impair laws adopted five years ago," he said, calling on civil society to focus on the non-transparent Parliament.
He recalled that a few years ago, reporters were banned filming in the session room. The website of the Parliament does not provide email addresses of MPs or information who voted for what. "We can send our messages to PACE deputies, to be aware of how they vote, while our Parliament does not make this information available," said Huseynov.
In his view, in the present circumstances it would be most effective to create a website and collect on it signatures under petitions and present them to Parliament. Ignoring of these initiatives by the MPs will be an index of the Parliament’s attitude to the public opinion.
To their ignoring of the public opinion, it is necessary to respond in public censure campaigns, said the activist.
During the meeting, as a refrain there sounded the idea that only citizens’ activity will encourage the authorities to create conditions for public participation in decision-making. -06C -
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