The Venice Commission rejects draft law on defamation of Azerbaijan

11 October in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe's expert body on constitutional and legal affairs, the Venice Commission, adopted an opinion on anti-defamation legislation in Azerbaijan.

The main conclusions contained in the opinion include the following:

- the draft law is a positive first step in devising comprehensive civil legislation in this field

- in its current form, the draft law "is, in many respects, not in line with the applicable ECHR principles and case law and fails to ensure adequate implementation of the country's obligations in this field"

- "moreover, it seems to have been prepared in complete isolation from other parts of domestic law and no progress has been made towards decriminalising defamation"

- the Venice Commission notes with regret that no measures have been taken to address its preliminary recommendations and bring the draft law into line with applicable standards

- the Venice Commission "finds it worrying that...defamation is still associated with excessively high criminal sanctions, including imprisonment. Its scope has even been widened to online expressions," is said in conclusion.

Recall that the bill was designed in the presidential administration of Azerbaijan and sent to the Venice Commission in May. Then the head of the public policy department of the Administration Ali Hasanov reported the "progressive" nature of the document. "If someone thinks that he will offend and will not be responsible, he is wrong. Criminal liability will remain. The law will create more opportunities for the media that keep the ethics and expand the range of media freedom," said Hasanov. He stated the inadmissibility of insults and slander on the Internet. "We will not accept the norms that create outrage in society," as the Internet is as a stray cat that climbs where it wants. Insults on the Internet displease all," said Hasanov . - 02B -