New infringement procedure used for first time over 2014 judgment againstAzerbaijan on opposition politician Mammadov

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is to examine whether Azerbaijan has refused to abide
by the ECHR"s judgment in the case of imprisoned opposition politician Ilgar Mammadov, the first
use of a new infringement procedure.
The procedure was introduced into the European Convention on Human Rights in 2010 and allows
the Committee of Ministers, which has the responsibility under the Convention for supervising the
execution of the Court"s judgments, to refer a question to the ECHR about whether a country has
refused to abide by a final judgment.
The Committee decided on 5 December 2017 to launch the proceedings against Azerbaijan owing to
the authorities" persistent refusal to ensure Mr Mammadov"s unconditional release following the
ECHR"s 2014 finding of multiple violations of his rights. The ECHR received the formal request from
the Committee on 11 December. The procedure will be before the ECHR"s Grand Chamber.
Mr Mammadov, born in 1970, was arrested and placed in detention in 2013 following protests in the
town of Ismayilli. He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence following his conviction in
2014 of mass disorder and violence against public officials.
The ECHR found in 2014 that Mr Mammadov had been arrested and detained without any evidence
to reasonably suspect him of having committed a criminal offence and concluding that the actual
purpose of his detention had been to silence or punish him for criticising the Government. It found
violations of Article 5 §§ 1 and 4 (right to liberty and security), Article 6 § 2 (right to the presumption
of innocence), and Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) of the European Convention.
The Committee of Ministers has launched the infringement proceedings under paragraph 4 of Article
46 (binding force and enforcement of judgments) of the Convention.
The Article allows the Committee to refer a question to the ECHR as to whether a country has failed
to abide by an ECHR judgment. The Committee first has to serve formal notice on the country
concerned, which it did in this case in October, and then adopt a referral decision by a two-thirds
majority.
The ECHR will consider the question as a Grand Chamber, its highest judicial formation. The
Committee of Ministers and the parties concerned will be able to submit written comments in
accordance with a deadline set by the President of the Grand Chamber. The Grand Chamber might
also decide to hold a hearing.
If the Grand Chamber finds a violation because Azerbaijan has failed to abide by the ECHR"s
judgment of 2014 in the case, it will refer the case back to the Committee of Ministers for
consideration of the measures to be taken. A finding of no violation also leads to the case being
referred back to the Committee of Ministers, which then closes its examination.