Officials Sabotage Judicial Reform - Expert

Baku /21.11.19 / Turan: Officials sabotage judicial and legal reforms, law expert Akram Hasanov told Turan, commenting on the implementation of President Ilham Aliyev’s decree “On deepening reforms in the judicial system” of April 3.

The measures envisaged by the decree are hindered due to the opposition of officials. Over the past period, the only step was to increase the salaries of judges and judicial system employees.

He considers it necessary to further increase the salaries of judges, while strengthening their responsibility for corruption and bribery.

Hasanov said that contrary to the decree of the president, all decisions of the judiciary are not published. There is no search engine on the judicial portal.

The decree provided for audio recordings of court hearings. But so far no relevant amendments to the law have been made, which is done deliberately.

“The conduct of audio recordings of court hearings will mean the end of the hegemony of the prosecutor’s office,” the expert said.

He also believes that without fundamental personnel changes, reforms in the judicial system cannot be implemented. At the very least, it is necessary to change the judges of the Supreme Court and the courts of appeal and some courts of first instance.

The personnel reforms that have begun recently have not yet affected the judicial system, Agayev said.

The head of the Ana Veten party, MP Fazail Agamaly, in turn noted that after the issuance of the presidential decree, steps were taken to strengthen the legislative framework. So, the other day, the parliament considered in the first reading draft amendments to 12 legislative acts, and this package of documents will play a serious role in improving the judicial system. In particular, it provides for the creation of specialized courts, the establishment of an independent judicial examination. This will increase the independence of the courts.

The accession of a fair judicial system would contribute to the development of entrepreneurship, the attraction of foreign investment, the deputy said.

It is also necessary to rejuvenate the judiciary, Agamaly believes. He stated that court presidents often impeded the fair administration of justice.

The MP believes that the reform process is irreversible, because no one can oppose the will of the president and this is the social order of society. — 05D06-